One Step at a Time
by Renthead621
Summary: Starts approx 12 hours after the movie ends. Mimi has passed away and Maureen helps Roger grieve. Story is better than summary. MaurRoger, MarkJoanne CollinsOC. Please Read and Review. I do not own Rent only our mosiah can claim that honor. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

"Mimi, Mimi no." Roger cried in barely a whisper as he sat in the chair next to her bed clutching her limp hand.

"Roger, Honey she's gone." Maureen whispered putting her arms around his shoulders as his sobs shook his whole body.

"How? She was better. You saw her." he said looking up at her lifeless body. His beautiful Mimi. He had run away to get away from his feelings for her, but he couldn't get away from them. She was in his heart. She was his heart.

"Honey, she was just too sick. You heard the doctor. Her body was hanging on, but she was just too sick." she told him trying to comfort him as Collins stood next to the window and Mark stood on the other side of the room holding Joanne in his arms comforting her.

"How do I go on Mo? We looked for her for so long and now I lost her. She's gone. How do I do it?" he asked still crying.

"You just do sweetie. You put one foot in front of another until you're doing it without thinking." she told him as he leaned into her.

"I can't. I just can't." he told her sobbing into her shoulder.

"I'll help you until you can. Come on." she said coaxing him out of the chair.

"I love you Mimi. I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner." he whispered still clutching her hand.

"Come on Roger, we need to go." Maureen told him with her arms around him helping him take one step at a time.

"Should one of us call Benny?" Collins asked as Mark looked at him.

"Yeah, we should." Roger said looking up to everyone's surprise.

"OK. I'll call him when we get home." Collins said as they all left the room.

"Can you hail us a cab Collins, please?" Maureen asked taking money out of her jacket as they left the hospital.

"Sure." he said as she clutched Roger and Mark held Joanne in his arms. When they got in the cab, no one spoke a word. Collins got in the front seat while Mark held Joanne and Maureen held Roger in the back seat. When they got to the building, they got out of the cab and began walking up the stairs. Maureen stood on Roger's right side so he didn't have to stare at her apartment door.

"Roger, come sit over here." she told him leading him the couch.

"I'm gonna call Benny." Collins said as he went to the phone.

"Does anyone want any tea?" Mark asked as Joanne sat in the arm chair watching Maureen comfort Roger.

"Yeah, why don't you have some tea or something Roger?" Maureen told him as he stared at the wall. "Yeah, make him some tea." she instructed Mark as he looked at her in awe. He couldn't believe how calm she was. Everyone expected her to be a wreck. Maureen was notorious for her dramatics. But today she was comforting Roger.

"Benny said he'd be by sometime today." Collins said sitting on the couch next to Roger. "How you doin Roger?" he asked looking over at him.

"What?" he asked looking up at him snapping out of his daydream.

"How you doin?" he asked putting his hand on his leg.

"I'm OK. I'm just gonna lay down for a little while. Let me know when Benny gets here." he said getting up and almost robotically going into his room.

"Should one of us call Mimi's mother?" Collins asked as Maureen watched Roger close his bedroom door.

"Does anyone know how to get in touch with her?" Mark asked looking at Maureen.

"Um, we'll ask Benny when he gets here. I know they weren't speaking for a while, but yeah we should call her." Maureen said looking up at him.

"Are you OK Jo?" Mark aksed bring her a cup of tea.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said quietly as she hugged her knees close to her chest.

"I'm gonna check on Roger. I'll be right back." Maureen said going to Roger's door. She gently knocked on the door. "Roger, I'm gonna come in, OK?" she asked slowly entering the room. He was laying on the bed sobbing quietly into a pillow. "Roger." she called out rushing over to him.

"Maureen, why? Why did she have to leave? I would have taken care of her. I loved her." he sobbed as she laid down with him. She held him in her arms and rocked him back and forth.

"I know sweetie, but she's not surrering anymore. She's with Angel now. They're probably tearing it up up there right now." she said smiling down at him.

"Yeah, they probably are." he said laughing despite himself.

"You know it." she said stroking his hair.

"But it was too soon. For both of them Mo." he said crying again.

"I know sweetie. I know." she said laying her head on his shoulder. She felt like crying. She had already lost too many of her friends and before she was 30 she was gonna lose more. But she couldn't. Roger was so lost and wounded, she needed to be there for him.

"Thanks for being here Mo. I can't do this by myself." he told her clutching her hand.

"Roger, I love you. You do know that, right? I mean, we've been through a lot together and some of it wasn't always good, but I love you. I'll do anything for you." she said leaning up to kiss his head.

"I know. I'm sorry for being a dick to you those times." he said turning his body toward her.

"It's OK sweetie. I know I deserved it a lot of times." she said caressing his stubbled cheek.

"No you didn't. I love you too and I treated you like crap." he said looking into her eyes.

"Well what's done is done. All that matters is now. And now, you are not gonna waste away in here. I'm not gonna let you. Mimi worked too hard to get you out of this damn loft to start living again. You need to pick yourself up and get out there." she said as he sat up.

"I know. She always wanted me to start performing again and I want to. Really I do." he said wiping his eyes.

"So then do it sweetie. I miss seeing you perform." she said sitting next to him.

"I miss performing." he told her leaning against the wall.

"So then do it. You need to start doing what makes you happy. I know it's hard losing Mimi, but you still need to live your life for her. It's what she would want you to do." she said shifting to sit next to him.

"I know." he said looking up at the ceiling.

"She was good for you, you know." Maureen told him smiling over at him.

"Yeah, she was. She taught me to live again. It would be a waste to sit in here for the rest of my life waiting to die." he told her as tears formed in his eyes again.

"Yeah it would. Roger, you are so much more than this disease you know. You are a talented, amazing person. You should be living your life rather than waiting to die." she told him reaching out for his arm.

"I know. Did anyone call her mom?" he asked wiping his eyes again.

"No, we were gonna wait for Benny to get here. No one knows how to get in touch with her." she said as he took her hand in his.

"I have her number. I'll do it." he said caressing her hand with his thumb.

"We can do it, Roger. If it's too hard for you..." she started before he interrupted her.

"No, I really should do it. I owe it to her." he told her leaning over to kiss her head. "Thanks Mo. You are a great friend. I don't know if I ever told you that before, but you are." he told her as she smiled up at him.

"No, you never did. Thanks." she said as he began to get up.

"I guess I have to start walking on my own sooner or later, so why not start now, right?" he said still holding her hand as he helped her off the bed and they began to leave the room.

"Roger, you are one of the strongest people I know. You can do anything you put your mind to." she said stopping him before they reached the door.

"Thanks Mo. You're not too bad yourself." he said pulling her into an embrace.

"Thanks. I have some pretty incredible friends." she said holding him in her arms before they left the room.

"Hey Rog, how you doing?" Benny asked as they emerged from the room.

"I'm OK. Or, I will be. How about you?" he asked him as the men hugged.

"I'm OK. I'm so sorry." he said patting Roger on the back.

"Me too. I know you loved her too." Roger said looking at him.

"Yeah, I did. But she loved you. With all of her heart." Benny said giving him a weak smile.

"I know and I got to tell her I loved her too." Roger said smiling back.

"Good. I was about to call her mom, do you want me to tell her anything for you?" he asked looking at him.

"You don't have to do that. I'll call her mom." he said as everyone looked on surprised.

"Rog, are you sure?" Collins asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I gotta do it." he said looking at him.

"OK man." Collins said as Roger reached into his pocket for his wallet to get her number out.

"I'll be right back." he said going to the phone.

"How is he Mo? Really." Benny asked quietly as he hugged her.

"He's OK. He just needs to remember to breathe, you know?" she told him rubbing his arm.

"Good. He looks pretty calm. So do you for that matter. What's up?" he asked trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"I don't know, I mean Benny, do you realize we have only lost half of our friends and before we're 30 we're gonna lost the other half? I can't dwell on it too long. I have to be strong for the ones that are still here. I can mourn them when they're all gone." she told him holding back tears.

"I know. You're right. We're the ones who are gonna have to survive." he told her hugging her.

"Is everything OK?" Maureen asked as Roger came back over to the couch wiping his eyes.

"Yeah, she said she'd take care of everything and let us know when and where." he told her as he sat on the couch.

"Are you OK?" Maureen asked sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I am. She thanked me for everything I did for her and told me to thank everyone and said she would talk to us all at the funeral. She was actually relieved. She was glad Mimi wasn't suffering anymore." he said beginning to cry again.

"I know sweetie. You'll be OK. Just remember you just gotta breathe." she told him wrapping her arms around him.

"I know. Um, I was thinking of going to the Life Cafe tonight. You know, have a night to honor her on our own before we have to face everyone else." he suggested wiping his eyes again.

"I think that's a great idea Roger." Joanne said quietly as Mark looked up at her.

"Yeah, it is." Mark said smiling at her as he reached out to take her hand.

"One last hurrah. I think she would like that." Benny said smiling at him.

"Let me go get cleaned up and we'll go." he said getting up and going into the bathroom.

"Should we be worried about him in there?" Collins asked looking up at Maureen.

"No, he'll be fine." she said watching the bathroom door. It was the same bathroom they found April in 2 years ago. Her blood stained the bathroom tiles so badly. It took Maureen 3 weeks of scrubbing everyday with bleach to get it all out. Just when she thought she had it all, she found more. For a small woman of 5 foot 4 barely 100 pounds, she had a lot of blood. As Roger stood in the bathroom looking at his own reflection in the mirror, he couldn't help but think, it was down to him and Collins now. They had both lost the loves of their lives to this fucked up disease that made no sense. It doesn't discriminate and it doesn't play favorites. It ravages the body of who ever is infected with it. Some quicker than others. Angel's suffering dragged on. It broke everyone's heart, but Mimi was fairly quickly. One minute she seemed fine and the next she drifted away. Why is beloved Mimi? Why just when he found her again he lost her? He looked around and remembered what happened in this very room. April. That was 2 years ago. 2 years since he learned his fate. 2 years since he swore he'd never love again. And then Mimi came along and taught him real love. Loving Mimi made him realize that he didn't really love April. Not that he couldn't, but she wouldn't let him. Just as they started to fall in love, she introduced him to heroin and that numbed everything. His happiness, his pain, his heart. He was glad he got to love Mimi. His heart was closed for too long in their relationship, but he loved her. And he always would. He owed it to her to get out of the loft and live. Maureen was right. Mimi worked too hard to get his sorry ass out of the loft only to have him retreat back when he lost her. Getting him out was part of her legacy. He wasn't gonna disappoint her. As he finally turned on the water, he splashed it on his face before drying it off and reaching out for the knob.

"Here's to you Baby." he whispered smiling up to the heavens before going back out to the others.


	2. Chapter 2

After a night of drinking to honor the memories of Mimi and Angel they returned to the loft. Collins and Joanne were pretty drunk and Mark and Roger were very buzzed. Mark had brought Joanne into his room to lay down and Maureen went with Roger to get him settled. "OK sweetie, you rest. You'll feel better in the morning. Or not." she said pulling his blanket over him before turning to leave.

"Maureen." he called out looking up at her.

"Yeah Roger." she answered turning to face him.

"Can you lay with me? At least until I fall asleep. Please. I don't want to be alone." he whispered looking so broken and weak.

"Sure. Sure sweetie. Whatever you want." she said pulling part of the blanket down so she could climb in next to him. She wrapped her arms around him protectively and stroked his hair. "Good night Roger. I love you sweetie." she said kissing his head.

"I love you too Mo. Good night." he said closing his eyes and waited for sleep to come. The next morning, Roger woke up first. He looked back at Maureen, who looked so peaceful. He slipped out of her grasp, careful not to wake her. He quietly opened his bedroom door and walked out into the main living area. Collins was sacked out on the couch and it was quiet. Too quiet. He went into the kitchen and put coffee on. As he opened the cabinet for the coffee filters, his AZT bottle fell out onto the counter. He picked it up and looked at it long and hard. He never thought about it before. Ever since the diagnosis it was a given. He needed to take it. Mark reminded him and he took it. No questions asked. It never dawned on him not to take it. If he stopped taking it, his lonely misery would be over. He could join Mimi and Angel and not have to worry about things like rent and freezing or dying. It would be so easy. As he stared at the bottle he opened it and swallwed his trusty little pill. As much as he hated waiting to die, he couldn't do that to his friends. They had already lost so much. They didn't deserve to lose any more. Angel and Mimi were a big enough blow for them. Losing him wouldn't serve any purpose other than to cause more pain.

"Good morning Roger." Collins said as he stretched on the couch.

"Good morning Collins. How do you feel?" he asked putting his pill bottle back in the cabinet before putting the coffee on.

"Pretty good. You?" he asked standing up.

"Good. But then again, I didn't consume half of the Life Cafe's supply of liquor." he said smiling at him.

"Yeah well what do you think I am, a lighweight?" he asked smiling at him as he reached into his coat pocket for his pills.

"Guess not." he said laughing.

"Where's Mo and Jo?" Collins asked sitting on the stool at the metal counter.

"Maureen is in my room sleeping and I don't know where Jo is. I'm assuming she slept in with Mark. She was pretty trashed." he said sitting on the other stool.

"Mo slept with you last night?" Collins asked raising his brow.

"It's not like that Collins. I asked her to lay with me. I didn't want to be alone." he told him looking down.

"I understand that. Maureen really is something, huh?" Collins asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I couldn't have made it through any of this without her." he told him looking up.

"Who would have seen that coming, huh? Maureen Johnson the level headed one." Collins joked as Roger got up from the stool.

"She's been a good friend Collins. She's been so great." he told him defending Maureen.

"I know she has. I'm glad she's been helping you." Collins said smiling at him.

"She has been. I never would have made it through yesterday without her." he said reaching into the cabinet for the pack of cigarettes he kept there. He rarely smoked first thing in the morning, but this morning was an exception.

"Pass one of those puppies my way." Collins said holding his hand out as Roger handed him a cigarette.

"Mimi's mom said she would probably call sometime today to let us know all the details about the funeral." Roger said lighting his cigarette.

"Yeah, Benny said to call him as soon as we know. He wants to send her a huge arrangement from all of us." Collins said taking the matches from Roger.

"OK. I was thinking of posting some ads to find a new band." he told him taking a drag from his cigarette.

"So soon?" he asked looking at him surprised.

"Yeah. Mimi always wanted me to start performing again. And I have to do it while I still can, you know? I could be next." he told him quietly taking another drag.

"Roger, please don't talk like that." Maureen told him quietly as she came out of his bedroom.

"But Maureen..." he said looking over at her. She had tears in her eyes as she approached him.

"Roger, we just lost Angel and Mimi. Please don't talk like that." she said as he reached out for her.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just want to live the way they taught us. No day but today." he said hugging her.

"And you should. But please don't talk like you're gonna die tomorrow. You're healthy and you're not going anywhere. Not yet." she said hugging him back.

"OK. I'll stop. I promise." he said kissing her head as Collins reached for the coffee.

"Coffee anyone?" he asked looking at them.

"Yeah. Thanks." Maureen said smiling up at him as she and Roger broke their embrace. "Where's Joanne?" she asked looking around.

"I'm guessing with Mark. She was pretty drunk last night." Roger said stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"Good. I mean, I'm glad she wasn't alone last night." Maureen told her sipping her coffee. "Oh geez, I forgot how much I hated black coffee." she said making a face.

"Well, you've been living uptown too long." Roger said laughing as Collins laughed along.

"Yeah, it's been too long since I've been down her in bohemia." she said laughing.

"Good morning." Mark said coming out of his room putting his glasses on.

"Hey Mark. How's Joanne?" Maureen asked laughing.

"Still sleeping. She was pretty ripped last night." he said walking over to them.

"Yeah, she was. Thanks for taking care of her. Roger wanted me to stay with him last night." Maureen said smiling up at him.

"No problem." he said as he looked at Roger.

"I'm gonna go put some water on my face. I'll be right back." Maureen said going into the bathroom.

"What's the matter with you Mark? You look unusually pale today." Collins asked looking up at him still smiling.

"Me and Joanne slept together last night." he whispered leaning in to them.

"Yeah we know Mark. She's still sleeping." Collins said as Roger looked at him stunned.

"No, I mean, we slept together, slept together." he said as Roger put his hand over his mouth and Collins eyes widened.

"You dog." Collins said smiling.

"That's not funny Collins. She's Maureens girlfriend. She left me for her." he whispered as he leaned his elbows on the metal counter and laid his head in them.

"What are you gonna do?" Roger asked still stunned.

"What do you mean, what am I gonna do? Hope she doesn't remember anything and forget the whole thing ever happened." he said looking up at him.

"She's a lesbian Mark. I think she's gonna remember sleeping with a man. Even you." Roger said laughing a little.

"You're not funny. Aren't you supposed to be mourning your girlfriend or something?" he asked leaving them.

"Even Mimi would find this funny." Roger said laughing into his hand as to not let Maureen hear him.

"Oh my God Mark. This is big." Collins said looking back at him.

"No shit Collins. What the hell am I gonna do?" he asked standing by the window.

"You guys have to tell Maureen. It's not fair to keep this from her." Roger told him walking over to him.

"Oh yeah, I got a better idea. Why don't I just jump off of the roof. It'll have the same result." he said looking at him.

"Mark, you guys can't just lie to her about this." he told him as Collins nodded.

"He's right man." he told him seeing Joanne standing in Mark's doorway as he turned to look at Mark.

"Good morning." she said looking around.

"Morning Jo. She's in the bathroom getting cleaned up." Collins told her as she looked down.

"Does she know?" she asked looking guilty.

"No, she doesn't. But we need to talk before we tell her." Mark told her gently.

"Yeah we do." she said as they heard the bathroom door open.

"Pookie, you're up. How do you feel?" she asked smiling at Joanne.

"I've felt better. I'm gonna get some asprin." she said going into the bathroom without making eye contact with her.

"She's gonna be feeling bad all day." Maureen said drinking her coffee again as the guys looked at her strange.

"Yeah, she drank a lot." Collins said hiding in his own coffee cup.

"What'd I miss?" she asked looking up at them.

"Nothing." Mark and Roger answered in unison.

"OK, seriousfuckinly, what did I miss?" she asked looking frustrated as the boys all looked at each other.

"Maureen..." Joanne started as she stood in the bathroom doorway before stopping herself.


	3. Chapter 3

"Pookie, are you OK? Maybe you should go back to bed." Maureen said turning to her.

"No, I'm fine Maureen. Um, can I talk to you for a minute?" Joanne asked walking closer to her.

"Sure." she said getting off of the stool before turning to the three boys. "I'm not done with you three yet." she said pointing at them as she went into Roger's room with Joanne.

"Think she'll tell her?" Mark asked as Roger and Collins looked at him.

"You think?" Roger said walking away from him.

"I'm just asking." he said looking at Roger.

"What the hell would posess you, Mark? Really. Maureen and Joanne are our friends." Roger said walking towards him again.

"We got caught up in the moment, you know? I mean, we were laying next to each other and she kept talking about how much she appreciated me being there for her yesterday and she leaned in and kissed me." he told him as Roger swept his hair back frustrated.

"You knew she was vulnerable, Mark. We just lost Mimi yesterday and she was drunk. She was in no position to be making that decision. What the hell were you thinking?" he asked going to the cabinet for another cigarette.

"Roger, I'm sorry. It just happened." Mark said as Collins got up to comfort Mark.

"Yeah well, I'm sorry's not gonna help Maureen when she finds out her lover slept with her ex boyfriend." he said going to the couch to put on his boots.

"Where are you going Roger?" Collins asked walking over to him.

"Out." he answered angrily.

"When are you gonna be back?" he asked with his hands on his hips.

"Later." he said grabbing his jacket and leaving.

"Maureen, I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened. I mean, one minute I was falling asleep and the next minute... I'm sorry." Joanne tried to explain, but she knew there was nothing she could do to undo this.

"You slept with Mark?" Maureen whispered as tears slowly streamed down her face.

"Maureen, I'm..." she started before Maureen stopped her.

"Save it Joanne. I need to get out of here for a little while." she said putting her boots on before leaving the bedroom.

"Maureen." Mark called out as she grabbed her jacket.

"Mark, not you. I'm going out." she said rushing out the door. As she ran down the stairs she cried more. How could Joanne and Mark do that to her? They were always the jealous ones not trusting her and then they betray her with each other. As she pulled the front door open, she was about to run down the steps when something stopped her. It was Roger. He was sitting on the steps smoking his cigarette. When he heard the door open he looked up.

"Maureen, are you OK?" he asked standing up as she fell into his arms.

"How could they do this? They're always the ones on my case for flirting and they cheat on me with each other." she asked crying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Maureen. You should have been with Joanne last night instead of with me." he whispered as he stroked her hair.

"Roger, this isn't your fault. How is Joanne and Mark sleeping together your fault?" she asked looking up at him.

"You should have been with Joanne, but you were with me. If I hadn't have asked you to lay with me, you would have been there for her." he said as she wiped her eyes.

"No way is this your fault Roger. It's them. We slept in the same bed together last night and nothing happened between us." she told him as he looked down at her.

"Yeah, imagine that." he said beginning to laugh.

"Yeah, and the one night Joanne feels like having sex when she's drunk it's with Mark." she said starting to laugh hysterically.

"Oh yeah, that's a visual I needed." he told her laughing.

"Sorry." she said laughing.

"Do you wanna get out of here? Go walk somewhere?" he asked with his arm still around her.

"Yeah, let's get out of here." she said as they left walking towards the park.

"So where were you gonna go if you didnt run into me?" he asked with his arm around her waist as they walked down the street.

"I don't know. I just couldn't breath the same air as them." she answered looking up at him. "You?" she asked curiously.

"I didn't know. I just needed to get away from Mark. I can't believe he did that to you." he told her as she stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Roger, no one would have blamed you, you know." she told him looking into his eyes.

"I would have. That's not me anymore." he told her quietly.

"I know, but you're allowed to wanna numb all of this." she said looking up at him.

"I don't need to. I have great friends to help me through it. And anyway, I wanna live. There are things I need to do before I die." he sad hugging her.

"I'm glad." she said smiling up at him as they continued to the park. They sat on a bench just talking.

"So what are you gonna do about Joanne and Mark?" he asked as she leaned her head on his shoulder with his arm around her.

"I don't know. I mean, I know she was drunk and vulnerable and all. But she slept with Mark. It's kind of ironic." she said tilting her head to look at him.

"I know. But are you gonna forgive her?" he asked stroking her hair.

"Yeah, I mean, I can't blame her. Not after all the shit I did to make her jealous. And she wasn't in the best state of mind to know what she was doing." she said as he looked down at her.

"Well, that's your decision Maureen, but what about Mark?" he asked as she took her head off of his shoulder.

"I don't know. I mean, it's Mark. He would never do anything to hurt anyone else." she said looking down at her hands.

"Well I'm really pissed at him. I mean, he's suppose to be your friend and he sleeps with your girlfriend. I mean, it makes me so mad." he told her getting angrier.

"Roger, I appreciate you wanting to stand up for me, but let's face it. I'm no angel." she said looking up at him.

"That doesn't matter. He still never should have done that. Getting caught up in the moment, my ass." he said getting up to pace around.

"Roger, why is this bothering you so much? Do you have a think for Mark?" she asked getting up to take his arm.

"What? Are you insane? No, I'm not gay and I'm not in love with Mark." he ranted as she started laughing.

"I was just playing Roger." she told him as he started to smile.

"You are evil." he said starting to laugh.

"But I'm serious. Why is it bothering you so much?" she asked trying to get serious.

"Because it's not right to do to you Maureen. You have been such a good friend and to have the two of them play you like that bothers me. You don't deserve it." he told her as she put her arms around him.

"Thanks Roger. You're sweet." she said smiling up at him.

"Do you feel like going back? It's getting really cold out here." he asked stroking her hair.

"I don't know if I'm ready to see them yet." she answered looking up at him.

"So how about we go to a sleazy bar where no one will find us?" he suggested as she looked up at him and smiled.

"That is a great idea." she said as they began to walk to the nearest bar.

"I thought you'd like that idea." he said as he put his arm around her again.

"Where the hell could they be?" Joanne asked pacing the loft.

"I hope they ran into each other and they're just out drinking." Collins said as Mark sat silently at the window seat.

"Roger wouldn't go out and use. Would he?" she asked folding her arms across her chest.

"Who knows. He was pissed when he left." Collins said as he looked over at Mark.

"What the hell are you looking at me for? Like Roger's never slept with someone who was dating someone else. Did you forget Alyssa?" he yelled getting up to pace around.

"Roger was a different person back then Mark." Collins told him calmly.

"Yeah well he has some set to be pissed at me. Maureen has a right to be pissed, but not him." he told him taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.

"Mark, can you stop screaming please? I feel bad enough. I cheated on my girlfriend last night. I don't know why you're upset. I could have fucked everything up, just when things were going so good. And now I wouldn't blame her if she and Roger slept together to get back at me." Joanne yelled breaking down crying.

"I'm sorry Joanne. You're right." he said going over to put his arm around her.

"Don't you think we caused enough trouble today? What if Maureen comes back and sees your arm around me?" she asked pulling away from him.

"You're right I'm sorry." he said going into his room.

"Where the fuck are they? They've been gone for 5 hours." Collins asked looking out the window.

"Collins, not you too. Please. Sit down." Joanne asked quietly still crying.

"I'm sorry Jo." he said going over to her.

"Do you think this means I'm straight?" she asked looking up at him.

"I don't know. Did you like it?" he asked as she started to laugh a bit.

"Yeah, I did. That's why I feel so guilty. I didn't hate it." she told him as he pulled her into an embrace.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked quietly.

"Sleep with you and hope you make me gay again." she said as they both laughed.

"You have been hangin around with us too long." he said stroking her hair.


	4. Chapter 4

"I play my part and you play your game. You give love a bad name, you give looove. Ooh." Roger and Maureen sang at the top of their lungs as they entered the loft drunk at around midnight laughing.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Joanne asked jumping off of the couch.

"Huh? Oh, we went out." Maureen said still hanging on to Roger.

"Yeah, out." Roger said laughing as Mark stood quietly in the doorway of his room.

"Where did you guys go? Jersey?" Collins asked laughing at them.

"No silly, we went to some sleazy dive on 12th." Maureen said giggling like a school girl.

"What? You guys were gone all day. You mean to tell me you two have been drinking all day?" Joanne asked with her hands on her hips.

"No, not all day. Just since... what time did we get to the bar?" Roger asked looking down at Maureen.

"I think like 1 o'clock." she answered still holding on to Roger out of fear the she would fall.

"Yeah, about 1." he said leaning on her.

"So you guys have been drinking for 11 hours?" Collins asked amused by thm.

"Not really. We were singing, talking drinking..." Maureen answered laughing.

"And singing." Roger added pointing to Collins.

"Really? They are trashed Jo. I think we should just put them in bed." Collins said quietly as Mark closed his bedroom door.

"OK where do we put them?" Joanne asked as they began another song.

"2, 3, 4. You were born to be my baby, Baby I was made to be your man." they sang laughing.

"I'd say Jersey, they'd fit right in." Collins said laughing.

"I'm serious, Collins." she said looking up at him as they continued their song.

"OK, we'll put them in Roger's bed and deal with this all tomorrow." he suggested as Joanne looked up at him.

"You can't be serious. We can't put them in the same bed in this condition. That's a recipe for disaster." she told him trying to talk over their singing.

"Listen Baby, if they haven't done anything yet. It ain't happening. At least not tonight." he said taking Roger's ar as Jann took Maureens arm.

"Come on Maureen. We gotta get you to bed." Joanne said as Maureen looked at her.

"No, not you. You hurt me. I'm going with Roger." she said moving closer to Roger as Collins helped them both into Roger's bed. No sooner did they hit the bed when they were passed out.

"They're asleep. They are definitely not getting up before morning." Collins said collapsing on the couch as Joanne sat in the recliner with her knees pressed against her chest. She was crying. "Jo, are you OK?" he asked moving closer to her.

"She hates me." Joanne told him lifting her head to look at him.

"She doesn't hate you. She's drunk." he told he rubbing her head.

"Yeah, but she got drunk because she hates me." she told him wiping her eyes.

"No, she got drunk to blow off some steam. Everything'll be OK tomorrow." he told her as she cried more. Just then Mark came out of his room.

"Joanne, last night was not a mistake. You may have thought it was, but it wasn't to me. I know I have no right to say this, but I have feelings for you and I don't want Maureen to take you back." he said before retreating back into his room as Collins and Joanne stared at him.

"Oh great. I got two very drunk white people inside, a crazy albino punkin head in there and a heart broke sista out here. This is gonna be a long night." Collins said looking at Joanne.

"I'll be right back." Joanne said going into Mark's room. "What did you mean when you said you had feelings for me?" she asked closing the door behind her.

"I want to be more than just your friend." he said sitting on his bed not facing her.

"How can you lay this on me now? Maureen is sleeping in Roger's bed drunk, with Roger in it after being gone all day with him and I don't know if anything happened with them and if they have sex drunk like this, they aren't gonna use a condom and Maureen could contract HIV. Whether I'm with her or not, I don't want her to get HIV." she ranted waving her arms in the air.

"Roger would never take that chance. Drunk or sober. If they're passed out, they're out for the night. Trust me, I know them." he said turning to him.

"But how could you come out there and tell me all the things you told me, now?" she asked again realizing he never answered her question.

"Because I've been thinking about it all day. I want to feel guilty. Really I do. I've been trying to feel guilty, but I don't. I like you Joanne. Last night was really great." he told her quietly as he looked into her eyes from across the room.

"Yeah it was. But Mark, I'm still with Maureen. Unless she tells me otherwise, that's the way it is." she told him before leaving the room.

"Is everything OK Joanne?" Collins asked looking up at her.

"Yeah, do you wanna stay at my place tonight? I need to get out of this loft and I don't wanna be alone." she asked sitting down to put her shoes on.

"Yeah, I'll go with you." he said putting his shoes on before they grabbed their coats and left. Just as the door closed, Mark came out of his room and saw no one was there. He was alone in the loft with the two people who hated him the most. His best friend and his ex girlfriend. He turned around and went back into hs room and went to bed. The next morning Roger and Maureen woke up with splitting headaches.

"Good morning." Roger grumbled as Maureen buried herself under the blanket more as if to will herself to cease to exist. "Are you OK?" he asked rubbing her back.

"Am I dead?" she asked from under the blanket.

"No but I bet you wish you were." he said amused but in pain.

"How much did we drink last night?" she asked uncovering her head.

"How much did you have on you?" he asked smiling over at her.

"Oh shit. We drank a hundered dollars worth of alcohol?" she asked as he swept her hair out of her face.

"Plus buy backs." he answered getting up.

"Oh man. How drunk were we?" she asked looking up at him.

"I seem to remember something about Bon Jovi." he answered scratching his head.

"Did we meet him or see him?" she asked rolling over on to her back.

"I think we thought we were him." he answered laughing.

"Oh man, I was singing Bon Jovi? I hope no one heard me." she asked sitting up gently as to not disturb her head too much.

"Mo, I think everyone heard us." he said laughing as he left the room to take his AZT and get asprin for the two of them.

"Shit." she said laying back down on the bed hitting her head on the pillow. "Ow." she cried holding her head.

"Are you OK?" he asked handing her a glass of water and 2 asprin.

"Yeah, nothing a hundred of these can't fix." she told him swallowing the pills with a huge mouthful of water.

"Have you decided what you're doing about Mark and Joanne yet?" he asked getting back into bed sitting against the wall.

"Yeah, I'm breaking up with Joanne and I'm just gonna try being friends with her. I don't know what I'm gonna do about Mark, but I'm sure I'll forgive him eventually." she said sitting up next to him.

"What are you gonna do about someplace to live?" he asked looking over at her.

"I'm gonna call Benny and see if I can rent Mimi's place. If that's OK with you." she said folding her legs under her.

"Yeah, that's OK with me. It's empty and all." he said smiling at her as he put his arm around her.

"Thanks Roger. I guess we've been there for each other these last couple of days, huh?" she said smiling up at him.

"Yeah, I guess we have." he said kissing her head before hugging her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Maureen are you in there?" Joanne asked knocking on the door of Roger's room.

"What does she want?" Maureen asked sitting in Roger's arms.

"You should get that. You guys need to talk." Roger said kissing her head.

"OK. Can we use your room?" she asked starting to get up.

"Yeah, but no lesbian sex on my bed. At least not in my presence." he joked as she laughed.

"You are sick Roger." she said as he got out of the bed.

"I know. I love you Mo." he said hugging her and kissing her head once more before leaving the room. "Hi Jo. Maureen's waiting for you." he said as she rushed into the room shutting the door behind her.

"What is it Jo?" Maureen asked sitting on Rogers messy bed.

"Did you and Roger sleep together?" she asked quietly standing in front of her.

"Not the way you think. All we did was sleep. He's one of my best friends Joanne. And I'm with you. I wouldn't sleep with Roger to get back at you for sleeping with Mark." Maureen told her as Joanne lowered her head.

"Again, I'm sorry for that." Joanne told her trying to look at her.

"Joanne, can I ask you a question? You have to be honest with me." she asked standing up.

"Anything Maureen." Joanne asked looking at her.

"So you have feelings for Mark?" she asked as Joanne lowered her gaze.

"Yeah." she said quietly.

"Then I think you should go to him. I don't want to hold you back." Maureen told her smiling at her.

"Are you doing this because you want to be with Roger?" Joanne asked as tears streamed down her face.

"No. Roger and I are just friends who needed each other these last couple of days. Nothing happened with us. And nothing is going to happen with us. But if you have feelings for Mark, I don't think it's fair of me not to let you follow those feelings. You deserve to be happy too." Maureen said wiping Joannes eyes.

"He has feelings for me too." Joanne confessed to her as Maureen smiled at her.

"So what are you waiting for? Mark is a great guys. I'm the one who screwed things up with him." Maureen told her as Joanne reached out to hug her.

"Thank you Maureen and I'm sorry. I hope we can be friends." she told her as Maureen pulled away.

"Of course, we'll always be friends." she said as Joanne opened the door and left. Maureen just sat on Roger's bed. She started to cry into her hands. When Roger came back into the room he sat next to her.

"Are you OK?" he asked just looking over at her.

"Yeah, I am. They have feelings for each other." she said half smiling.

"Oh Mo." he said taking her into his arms.

"I'm fine Roger, really. Mark is a great guy and Joanne is a great girl. I should know." she said smiling up at him.

"You're a great girl too Mo." Roger told her lifting her chin up.

"Yeah, now all I have to do is find the right guy or girl, who isn't attracted to each other and I'll be good to go." she said starting to laugh as she and Roger's faces moved closer to one anothers. Suddenly there was knock on the door.

"Rog, Mimi's mother is on the phone." Collins called out as he and Maureen moved away from one another.

"I should get that. It could be information about her funeral." Roger said leaving the room. As Roger went to get the phone Maureen covered her mouth.

"What am I doing? This is Roger. He just lost Mimi and I just broke up with Joanne. I can't kiss him." she said quietly to herself as she plopped down on Roger's bed.

"Mimi's funeral is on Saturday. And her wake is tomorrow." he said coming back into the room sitting on the bed.

"OK. Do you need to talk?" Maureen asked keeping a safe distance.

"No, I'm OK. I mean, her mother talked to me again and told me that Mimi was lucky to have friends like us and we're lucky we have each other to get through it, and she's right. Maureen you have been a great friend to me." he said turning to her.

"Well you have been a great friend to me too. I never could have handled the whole Joanne and Mark thing on my own." she told him smiling.

"Yes you could have. You are a very strong person Maureen. No one gives you credit for it." he told her reaching out to her.

"Thanks Roger. You're being really strong too." she said laying in his arms. "I should call Benny. I want to move my stuff out of Joanne's as soon as possible." she said smiling up at him.

"OK. I'm gonna lay down for a little while. Wake me up if you need any help, OK?" he said as she got up and he laid down.

"OK. I will. Roger." she said standing by the door.

"Yeah Mo."he answered looking up at her.

"Thanks." she told him smiling at him.

"No problem. Thank you." he said smiling back before she left the room. "What the hell was I thinking? Almost kissing Maureen? Am I insane? She's my friend. I can't do that to her. Not now. She just broke up with Joanne and Mimi just died. It just wouldn't be a good idea. I gotta keep myself in check around her. I can't do this to her. To myself. She did look beautiful when she looked up at me. No, dammit, Roger, what the hell? She's your friend. I gotta get some sleep. I'm not thinking rationally." he told himself as he closed his eyes to go to sleep.

"Maureen, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mark asked as she came out of Roger's room.

"What is it Mark?" she asked standing against the door.

"I really am sorry for what happened the other night. We never meant to..." he started before Maureen cut him off.

"Listen Mark, I know you're sorry. And I know you have feelings for Joanne and she has feelings for you, but right now I don't want to talk about it. Maybe at a later date, but not now. I have to call Benny to see if I can rent Mimi's old place downstairs." she said going to the phone as he retreated to his room as Joanne followed him.

"Are you OK sweetheart?" Collins asked putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah actually I am." she said looking up at him smiling. "Thanks." she said before going to the phone to call Benny. "Benny, it's Maureen... No everyone is OK. Mimi's mom called Roger this morning... she's being waked on friday and the funeral is on Saturday... I don't know he didn't tell me, but I'll have him call you and let you know. Listen, the reason I'm calling is because me and Joanne broke up and I wanted to know if I can rent Mimi's old place... it's a long story that I don't want to get into right now... thanks a lot. Really... OK thanks so much. Yeah, I'll be in today... OK Thanks again,.. OK bye." she said hanging up the phone.

"So you're moving into Mimi's old place?" he asked as she began to walk to Roger's room again.

"Yeah, I can't keep living with Joanne. She's with Mark now." she said standing in front of him.

"What's really going on with you and Roger?" he asked quietly smiling down at her.

"Nothing is going on. We're just friends. We're helping each other through a really rough time. That's it." she said looking up at him.

"OK. Just curious. Do you need help moving?" he asked smiling at her.

"Yeah, I could.use some help. I've gotta wake up Roger." she said hugging him.

"OK baby, just let me know." he told her smiling down at her.

"I will. Thanks." she said as she went into Roger's room. "Roger. Roger, get up." she told him shaking him gently.

"Hey Mo. What did Benny say?" she asked stretching smiling up at her.

"He said I can move in as soon as I need to. He's coming by later to give me the key." she told him smiling.

"That's great." he said sitting up in the bed.

"And Collins volunteered to help us, so as soon as you're ready, we'll go get my stuff from Joannes." she told him smiling.

"Great. I'll be ready in a little while." he said swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Thanks Roger. I really appreciate this." she said leaning in to hug him.

"No problem Mo. I'd do anything for you." he told her looking down at her.

"You are the best friend a girl could ask for." she said leaning up to kiss him. It started as a small friendly kiss, but Roger took her face in his hands and deepened it. Maureen leaned into him more kissing him back.


	6. Chapter 6

"Um, Roger, I'm so sorry." Maureen said pulling back and going to the other side of the room.

"No, it was me. I'm sorry Mo." he told her sitting on the bed.

"We can't do this. Mimi just... and Joanne and I just..." she started as he got up.

"I know." he said getting up to pace around the room.

"We're friends Roger. We can't do this." she told him sliding down the wall putting her head in he hands.

"I know Maureen." he said walking over to her.

"It was nice. But we can't do it again." she said looking up at him.

"It was nice, but you're right. We can't." he agreed reluctantly.

"Roger, you just lost Mimi. It wouldn't be right for us to start anything. She was my best friend. I can't just come and swoop in on her boyfriend 2 days after she died. That's not right." she said crying into her legs.

"Maureen." he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Roger, I can't do that to her. I mean, I love her, you know?" she said looking up at him.

"I know. I love her too." he said holding her in his arms stroking her hair.

"Roger, I just feel so guilty. I kissed my best friends boyfriend." she said crying more.

"Maureen, I'm sorry." he whispered. He couldn't stand to see her cry. Sure they had had their differences in the past, but she was always a good friend to him. No more so than in the last couple of days. "What was I thinking?" he thought to himself. "How could I hurt her like this?"

"It's not your fault Roger. I kissed you back. You just lost your girlfriend and I took advantage of you." she said getting up to walk around the room.

"No. Maureen, you didn't take advantage of me. I shouldn't have kissed you first. We're both hurting and I shouldn't have kissed you first." he said going after her.

"But I wanted you to and I shouldn't have. It's just that we've been so close these last couple of days and... I don't know, I like it. And I ruined it." she told him plopping on his bed.

"You wanted me to kiss you?" he asked sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I mean, I shouldn't have. But I did. Roger, I have liked you since I met you, but I was with Mark and you were with April and things were really bad for you and then I was with Joanne and you were with Mimi and now with Mimi gone and Joanne and I are done... it's not the right time." she said looking up at him, her face was still wet from crying.

"Maureen, I have HIV. There's only so long I can keep putting off my life before it's too late. Do I still love Mimi? Yes. Do I miss her? Of course. But she taught me that I have to live while I'm still here. Otherwise, I'm wasting way for nothing. She got me out. Living. It wouldn't be right to ignore what's going on between us. Not to her or us." he told her playing with her hair.

"I know Roger, but I feel so guilty. Like I'm betraying my best friend and taking advantage of you. I don't exactly have the best track record for doing the honorable thing, but this past year has changed me. Knowing Angel and Mimi has changed me." she told him smiling up at him.

"I know. It changed all of us." he said caressing her face.

"So what do we do now?" she asked closing her eyes as he touched her.

"We don't have to do anything right now. We can wait, if you want. But we're still friends, right?" he asked smiling at her.

"I don't know what I want to do. But of course we're still friends. I love you Roger. If I couldn't be friends with you, I don't know what I would do." she said leaning up to hug him.

"Good, because I don't know what I would do if we couldn't be friends either." he said holding her tight.

"Why don't we go to Jo's and get my stuff and we'll talk more later, OK?" he suggested looking up at him.

"OK. Go get cleaned up. I'll wait for you in the living room." he said kissing her forehead.

"OK. Roger, I love you." she said smiling up at him.

"I know Mo, I love you too." he told her smiling as she left the room. He sat on his bed for a minute thinking about what had just happened. He kissed Maureen. He felt so much guilt. He felt guilty for Mimi, and for maybe changing his relationship with Maureen. He felt guilty also for the day he died. If he and Maureen pursued what was happening between them, not only would she have to sit by and watch her friend die, she would have to sit by and watch her boyfriend die. He began to regret it until a little voice came into his head.

"Forget regret or life is yours to miss." the voice said happily as Roger smiled. It was Mimi's. Mimi, how would she feel about him getting involved with Maureen? 2 days after she died. She wasn't even buried yet and here he was kissing another girl. Maureen no less. Her best friend.

"What kind of guy does that?" he thought to himself. He ran his fingers through his hair and fell backwards on the bed. "Am I fucking crazy?" he said out loud as Collins appeared in the doorway.

"You very well could be. You're talking to yourself and all." he said smiling at him as he entered the room.

"Hey Collins. Is Maureen ready to go?" he asked sitting up.

"Not yet. I just heard the shower go on, so I think she might be washing her hair or something. She was bitching about it being skanky and all. Are you OK?" he asked sitting next to him.

"No. I kissed Maureen before." he said looking at him.

"I knew it was only a matter of time. Are you OK?" he asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Just a lot of guilt. You know over Mimi, and Maureen. I mean, she's one of my best friends and I love her, but we just lost Mimi and she's not even buried yet. It's too soon, right?" he asked.

"Are you asking me, or are you telling me?" he asked smiling at him.

"I don't know." he said getting up to brush his hair. "I mean, on the one hand there's Mimi. She just died and I love her. I really do. I always will. And then on the other I have Mo. I mean, she has been so there for me and I really need her. I mean she taught me how to walk again, you know. But I don't have the luxury of time on my side, you know?" he asked waving the brush in the air as he paced in front of Collins.

"How does Maureen feel about all this? The kiss?" Collins asked watching him.

"She feels guilty, but she said she wanted me to kiss her. I mean, I like how I feel when I'm with her." he told him plopping back on the bed. "What the hell do I do?" he asked laying back on the bed.

"You just do whatever is in your heart. You and me don't have that much time left, you know that. Just do whatever you feel. I think Mimi would want you to go on with your life." Collins told him as Roger sat up again.

"Yeah, it's weird. Before you came in, I could have sworn I heard her voice. She told me to forget regret or life is mine to miss." he said smiling at him.

"So there's your answer." he said patting Roger on the shoulder before getting up to leave the room.

"Hey Collins. Thanks." he told him smiling.

"No problem, man. Now start getting ready. We have to help Maureen move into her new place.

"OK." he said getting up to brush his hair. He took some clean clothes out of the dresser and started to change. Maybe he could date Maureen. She had been a friend for so long and she already knew everything about him. He wouldn't have to go through the complicated process of explaining everything to her. And he did love her already. But he would definitely wait until after Mimi was buried. That wouldn't be right.

"Give in to love or live in fear." he heard as Mimi's voice entered his head again.

"I hear you Mimi. I love you." he said looking up. "I will always love you." he whispered smiling up at her.

"Are you ready Roger?" Maureen asked appearing in the doorway. He hair was still wet and it was just starting to curl.

"Yeah, I'm ready." he said smiling at her as he followed her out the door. They went to Joanne's apartment and started packing up all of her things. There were pictures of everyone all over the loft. Pictures from the night of Maureen's protest at the Life Cafe. That was the night he started dating Mimi. He couldn't help but smile.

"You guys looked really great together." Maureen whispered leaning over to him.

"Yeah, she was beautiful." he said smiling down at her.

"It's OK to feel guilty you know. You know I do." she told him as he put the picture in a box.

"She came to me." he told her as she sat on the couch.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking up at him.

"When you left to get ready. I heard her voice in my head. She told me forget regret or life is yours to miss and then she told me, give in to love or live in fear." he told her sitting next to her.

"Well she believed in those words." she said looking over at him.

"But I was thinking about you at the time." he told her pushing her hair behind her ear.

"What do you think that means?" she asked looking down at her hands.

"I think she would like it if we got together." he told her quietly as he smiled at her.

"But I think we should at least wait until she's buried first." she told him smiling up at him.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't think it would be right if I brought a date to her funeral." he said half laughing.

"Yeah, it didn't go over too well when you brought one to April's funeral." she said laughing a little.

"Oh God. I was a mess back then. She was a skank, huh?" he told her surprisingly laughing at the memory.

"Oh honey, everything was a mess back then. But you've come so far. You really grew up to be a great man." she said taking her into his arms.

"Thanks Mo. That means a lot to me to hear you say that." he said kissing her head.

"Now, let's get me packed up. I want to move into my new place." she said smiling up at him.

"OK." he told her as they got up and started to pack.


	7. Chapter 7

"That was a beautiful service." Collins said as they left the grave yard. Joanne clung to Mark crying and Roger and Maureen were consoling each other.

"Yeah it was." Mark said looking up at him.

"Roger, I'm sure she would have really liked that you sung her her song.." Maureen said as Roger wiped his eyes.

"Thanks. It's because of her I can write again." he said smiling down at her.

"Yeah, she always had a way of inspiring the best out of everyone, huh?" she said holding him closer.

"Yeah she did." he said as Mrs. Marquez approached the group.

"Thank you so much for coming. I'm so glad Mimi wasn't alone when she died." she said wiping her eyes.

"No problem Mrs. Marquez, we loved her very much." Roger said smiling at her.

"I know Roger. She's at peace now." she said hugging him.

"Yes she is." he said hugging her back.

"I should be getting back. I just wanted to thank you. You all meant so much to her." she said looking at everyone.

"Thank you and we're sorry for your loss." Mark said as Joanne cried into his shoulder as they all left the grave yard.

"I think we should go to the Life. We could all use a drink." Collins suggested looking at everyone.

"I think that's a great idea Collins." Roger said looking down at Maureen.

"Yeah it is. Mark, Joanne are you in?" she asked smiling at them.

"Yeah, we're in." Mark said smiling back at her.

"You two better not get drunk again. I'll send you're asses to Jersey, so help me." Collins said laughing as Roger and Maureen looked at each other and covered their faces.

"That was one time and it was Roger's fault. He's the one who kept playing it on the jukebox." Maureen said as he held her close to him.

"Usually, I'm not big on Bon Jovi, but when I'm drunk I can't get enough of it." he said as everyone laughed.

"Mimi would love this. Us all enjoying ourselves like this." Joanne said sniffling.

"Yeah, she would." Roger said kissing Maureens head.

"And I really think she would love you two together." Collins said looking at Roger an Maureen.

"I know." Roger said smiling down at Maureen as they walked to the Life Cafe.

"Are you guys gonna be together, together?" Joanne asked as they stood outside the Life Cafe.

"We're gonna try it, yeah." Maureen told her smiling.

"Well good for you guys." she said smiling at Mark.

"Maureen, can I talk to you for a minute?" Roger asked smiling down at her.

"We'll meet you inside." Mark said smiling at Joanne as they went inside.

"Sure. We'll be right in." Roger told him smiling at Mark as they went inside.

"What's the matter Roger?" Maureen asked as Roger leaned in and kissed her.

"I just wanted to do this." he said holding her close to him.

"I like when you do that." she said smiling up at him.

"What do you want to do for New Years?" he asked looking down at her.

"How about we just spend New Years alone in my apartment? I want it to just be you and me." she said as he pulled away from her smiling.

"So we'll spend it at your place." he said leaning down to kiss her again. He kissed her long and deep.

"Roger, this is not making me want to hang out with everyone else." she said laughing as he ran his fingers through her long dark ringlets.

"That's the idea." he whispered kissing her again.

"We can't blow everyone off. We need to go inside." she said smiling at him.

"OK." he told her before kissing her again as they went inside.

"Hey you two, took you long enough. Did you have to talk Roger into coming here rather than going home?" Mark asked laughing as Maureen nodded laughing with him.

"You two think you're so funny, don't you?" Roger asked holding Maureen close to him.

"Well it's true." Maureen said as he leaned down to kiss her before they sat at the table.

"How about we have a toast to Mimi and Angel?" Collins said returning to the table with a pitcher of beer.

"Great idea. To Angel and Mimi. Together again." Maureen said smiling up before looking at Roger.

"I'll drink to that." Roger said smiling down at her.


	8. Chapter 8

"So where are you guys headed today?" Collins asked as Maureen and Roger came into the loft with their arms around each other.

"Roger's putting posters up around the city for his new band and I'm tagging along." Maureen said smiling.

"I'll be right back Baby. I'm just gonna change my clothes." he told her kissing her before going into his room.

"He's really doing it, huh?" Mark asked while Joanne lay in his arms on the couch.

"Yeah, he's really excited about it. We printed up the posters yesterday." she said sitting in the arm chair.

"That's really great." Joanne said smiling at her.

"Yeah, it is pretty great, huh?" Maureen said smiling at them.

"Do you remember when Roger was performing? He was amazing." Collins asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, he was electric. He had all the girls at his feet." Maureen said twirling her hair.

"Maureen, it's not gonna be like that this time." Mark told her caressing Joanne's arm.

"I know. I'm just glad he's gonna be doing it again. He belongs up there in the spotlight." she said as Roger came out of his room.

"Are you ready Baby?" he asked smiling at her.

"I was born ready." she said smiling as she got up.

"We'll see you guys later. We'll meet up at the Life for some dinner or something." Roger told the others as he put his arm around Maureen's shoulder and they left.

"It's nice to see them like that." Joanne said smiling up at Mark.

"Yeah, it is." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"I can't believe he's actually starting a new band." Collins said smiling.

"Looks like the old Roger is back." Mark said smiling up at him.

"Yeah, but this time he's better. He's got a girl who really loves him for who he is." Collins said taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"I thought he had April before?" Joanne asked looking up at Mark.

"April didn't love him. April was just some girl he met in a bar who was self destructive and decided to take Roger down with her." Mark told her kissing her head.

"Well I'm glad they have each other." she said smiling at him.

"Me too." he said as she laid her head on his chest again.

"You guys look so good together." Collins said smiling at them.

"Oh yeah, the black lawyer and the albino film maker. We're a perfect match." Mark said laughing.

"No, it's not that. You guys look so happy. I'm glad you guys have each other too." he said smiling at them.

"Yeah, and to think, I actually wanted to sleep with you so I could be gay again." Joanne said laughing as Mark looked down at her shocked.

"When was this?" he asked as she buried her face in his chest.

"The day after we slept together." she laughed reaching up to caress his cheek.

"Oh really?" he asked starting to smile.

"Aren't you glad I didn't?" she asked leaning up to kiss him.

"Yeah, I am." he said kissing her back.

"I'm gonna head out. I have some things to do." Collins said looking very uncomfortable.

"Oh come on. Stay a while. We're meeting Roger and Maureen at the Life later." Mark said as Joanne sat up.

"No, it's OK. You guys need time alone. You don't need to be babysitting me." he told them putting his coat on.

"Collins, we're sorry." Joanne said getting up.

"For what? Being happy. Don't ever apologize for that. You guys deserve it. I'll meet you guys later." he said leaving the loft.

"I feel so bad for Collins. I mean, we have each other and Roger and Maureen are together." she said looking down at him.

"Well he just lost Angel. He needs time." Mark said reaching out for her.

"I know. I just feel bad. We're happy and Roger and Maureen are happy and he has nobody." she said sitting next to him with his arms around her.

"But he has us." he said holding her close.

"You know what I mean Mark." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah, I know. What do you want to do tomorrow night?" he asked sitting back bringing her down with him.

"I don't know. Maybe can go to some bar or something. You know, so he doesn't miss her so much. If we stayed here, he'd have you and me and Roger and Maureen and you know how bad Roger and Maureen are." she said beginning to laugh.

"Yeah, attatched at the lips. I swear to God they're worse than Roger and Mimi." Mark said laughing with her.

"I know. It's nice to see them like that. I mean they haven't had a single fight and Maureen seems to really love him." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah she does. I guess it helps to be friends first, huh?" Mark said leaning in to kiss her head.

"Yeah it does." Joanne said leaning up to kiss him on the lips. She kissed him long and hard. He knew she meant them too. As they broke their kiss they just laid back on the couch in each others arms.


	9. Chapter 9

"Why do we have to go out? I thought you wanted to stay here just you and me." Roger whined laying in Maureen's bed.

"Because Mark and Joanne don't want Collins to be alone tonight. Now stop whining and get dressed." she said buttoning her pants.

"OK, but I'm doing this under protest." Roger told her getting up.

"Duly noted, now get dressed." she said laughing as he wrapped his arm around her waist kissing her shoulders.

"Where are we going anyway?" he asked spinning her around.

"I don't know. All Joanne told me was that it was a new club in the village." she said running her fingers through his hair.

"Great. Not only do I have to spend new years with Mark, Joanne and Collins, I have to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers." he said leaning his forehead on hers.

"Oh come on. You'll have fun." she said leaning up to kiss him.

"I'd have more fun if it was just me and my girlfriend." he said kissing her longer and deeper.

"You are so not starting this again Roger. We have to get ready." she said laughing.

"It was worth a shot." he said leaning down to kiss her again before getting dressed.

"Yeah, that's become your motto lately." she said watching him slip into his jeans.

"Very funny. Is it my fault that I like being with my girlfriend." he said standing in nothing but a pair of jeans.

"Roger, I like being with you. But we can't let Collins spend new years alone. He's missing Angel enough. Remember last year? We had so much fun and we were all together." she said as she went to him.

"I know. Things were so different then. We didn't have a worry in the world." he said as she caressed his bare chest.

"Yeah I know. Are you OK?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Forget regret, right?" he said kissing her.

"OK. Now get ready." she said smiling up at him.

"I am so glad you're not wearing that cat suit again." he said laughing.

"Oh shut up. You know you were staring at my ass the whole night." she said laughing at him as she put her belt on.

"Who told?" he said pulling his shirt over his head.

"You did. Just now." she said laughing harder.

"Oh you are gonna get it Maureen Johnson." he said grabbing her around her waist and throwing her on the bed.

"Roger, stop. We have to go." she squealed as he began to kiss her neck.

"Fine, but if I get drunk and play Bon Jovi it's on your head." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"I'll take full responsibilty." she said laughing as they got up and finished getting dressed to meet everyone upstairs.

"It's about time. What the hell took you two so long?" Mark asked putting his scarf on.

"What's his problem?" Roger asked Joanne with his arm around Joanne.

"Collins doesn't want to go." Joanne told him quietly.

"So what's he gonna do? Spend new years alone and wallow. Hell no. Come on. We gotta go." Roger said taking Maureen's hand as they all left the loft and headed to Collins apartment.

"OK Pookie." Maureen said as Roger gave her a look. "Sorry." she said laughing as they all left for Collins apartment.

"Collins, open the damn door." Roger yelled pounding on the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You're gonna wake my neighbors." Collins asked opening the door.

"It's new years. Everybody's still up. Come on, we're going out." he said pushing his way into the apartment and grabbing Collins jacket.

"No, I'm just gonna stay here and watch Dick Clark. You lovebirds go. Have fun." he said as everyone followed Roger in.

"Like hell we're gonna let you sit here alone wallowing in your own self pity. Come on." Roger said handing him his shoes.

"Roger, I'm fine. I don't want to be a fifth wheel with you guys." he said dropping his shoes to the floor.

"You're not a fifth wheel Collins. You're one of us. I'm not gonna be the only one Roger gets singing Bon Jovi, you know." Maureen said trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh yeah, being gay's not enough of a reason for people to beat me up." Collins said laughing.

"I'm serious Collins. Get your stuff on. You're coming out with us." Roger said standing in front of him.

"Are you guys sure? I don't want to be a bother." he said sitting on the couch.

"Of course we're sure. Collins, you're our friend. We're not gonna let you spend new years alone." Joanne said sitting next to him.

"OK. Just gimme a minute." he said putting his boots on as Roger wrapped his arms around Maureen smiling.

"OK let's party." Maureen said as they left the loft.

"You gotta be kidding me." Roger said looking up at the band as they entered the club. It was a Bon Jovi cover band.

"Baby, this is just too freaky." Maureen said as she clutched onto Roger's jacket laughing as he looked back at Joanne.

"I knew nothing about this, I swear." she said laughing as they got their drinks and sat at a booth.

"Well at least we know Roger'll have fun." Mark said laughing as they started Born to be my Baby.

"Come on Baby, let's dance." Maureen said grabbing Roger's hand.

"Mo, I don't dance." he told her resisting.

"Oh come one. You dance fine." she said smiling at him.

"Yeah, for a headbanger, badass rocker." Collins said as everyone laughed.

"Oh stop, you're fine.You're with me." she said excitedly as he got up and danced with her.

"Why is it that I feel like I'm wrapped around your little finger?" he asked smiling down at her as he pulled her close to him.

"Because you are." she said laughing as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Guys it's almost midnight." Joanne said interrupting their liplock.

"Yeah and? I am right where I want to be at midnight." Roger told her smiling down at Maureen and Joanne smiled at them.

"Come on. We're about to toast." she said smiling before going back to the booth.

"OK, I have a toast." Roger announced as he sat back at the table and took his champagne glass.

"Hit me baby." Collins said laughing clearly buzzed.

"To Angel and Mimi, may they be raising as much hell up there as they did down here." he said smiling as Collins started laughing.

"They were a handful, weren't they?" he said as they all laughed.

"I'll drink to that." Maureen said as everyone began counting down to zero.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR." the bar shouted in unison.

"Happy New Year Maureen." Roger said taking her face in his hands.

"Happy New Year Roger." she said leaning in to kiss him.


	10. Chapter 10

"Good morning." Roger whispered waking Maureen up gently.

"Good morning Baby." she said smiling up at him.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked caressing her hair.

"Yeah, I always sleep well when I'm with you." she said smiling as he leaned down to kiss her. "Do you have auditions today?" she asked caressing his stubbled cheek.

"Yeah. You wanna come with?" he asked playing with her hair.

"I would love to. You know I could never resist watching you flex those sexy muscles of yours." she said smiling up at him as he pulled her into a deep passioinate kiss.

"And I could never resist this sexy body." he said caressing her body.

"Uh, I love when you do that." she said becoming weak with his touch.

"That's why I do it." he whispered as he moved his lips down her neck.

"What time are your auditions." she asked with her eyes closed.

"Not until later." he whispered in her ear.

"Mmm, good. We have time." she said wrapping her arms around his back.

"Maureen, Roger. Get up?" Joanne shouted knocking on the door.

"Not now Jo. Come back later." Roger shouted before kissing Maureen again.

"Guys, this is serious. It's Collins. He's at the ER." she yelled as Roger and Maureen jumped out of bed.

"What?" Maureen shreiked as Roger threw on his boxers and pants to open the door.

"He collapsed at school. He's at the hospital." Joanne said crying as Roger looked at her.

"What hospital?" Maureen asked buttoning her pants.

"I don't know. Mark answered the phone. He'll be down in a minute." she said as Roger wrapped his arms around her.

"It's OK Jo. It's not his time." Roger said consoling her as Mark came down.

"Did Jo tell you guys what's up?" he asked as Joanne shifted to him.

"Yeah, let me just finish getting dressed and we'll go." Roger said as Maureen put on her sneakers.

"What happened?" Maureen asked as Mark and Joanne stood in the doorway.

"He collapsed at school. That's all they would tell me on the phone. We have to get down there." he said as Roger ran out of the bedroom area dressed and ready to go.

"Are you ready, Baby?" he asked as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Um, yeah." she whispered as he took her in his arms.

"It's not his time yet, Mo. We just gotta believe that." he whispered as he squeezed her tight.

"I know. Let's go." she said wiping her eyes before they left. They took the subway to the hospital. Roger held Maureen in his arms and Mark held Joanne in his arms.

"He's gonna be OK. I bet it's something stupid." Roger said kissing Maureen's head.

"Yeah, he's gonna be fine." Mark agreed caressing Joannes hair.

"I hope so." Maureen said holding Roger tight as they got off of the train and went to the hospital.

"Thomas B. Collins, he collapsed at NYU." Roger said approaching the desk.

"One moment, let me check." the nurse told him looking for his chart.

"Thank you." he said holding Maureen.

"Oh yes. The doctor will be out to talk to you." she said closing the chart.

"Is he OK? I mean, is it anything serious." Roger asked as Maureen began crying.

"The doctor really should speak to you." she said as Roger looked down.

"Thank you." Roger said quietly as he held Maureen tighter.

"Family for Thomas Collins." the doctor said coming out to meet them.

"Yes, we're right here." Mark said as they approached the doctor.

"It seems Mr. Collins is suffering from exhaustion, and he stopped taking his AZT." the doctor said as Joanne and Maureen started crying harder.

"How are his T-cells?" Roger asked holding back tears to be strong for Maureen.

"They're getting low, but if we can get him back on his meds, it shouldn't be too serious." the doctor said as Mark looked away from him.

"Can we see him?" Roger asked caressing Maureens hair.

"Sure, right this way." he said leading them to the room where Collins was.

"Thanks. Collins, what are you thinking? Not taking your meds. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Roger asked as Maureen looked up at him shocked.

"Roger, calm down." she whispered wiping her eyes.

"No. Doesn't he think we lost enough of our friends to this thing? He's gonna help it kill him too?" he said beginning to cry.

"Collins, what's going on? Why would you stop taking your meds?" Mark asked as Roger collapsed in Maureen's arms.

"I miss her, man. You guys all have each other and I miss her." he said crying.

"So you're gonna kill yourself? That's genius. Oh yeah, she'd love that idea." Roger said looking up at him.

"You can't give up Collins. You have so much to give to the world. You have your kids and you have us. You could have come to us." Mark said as Joanne cried in his arms.

"I know, but I just feel like I'm alone sometimes. I'm sick of waiting for this thing to take me." he said wiping his eyes.

"It's not too late, you know? The doctor said all you have to do is get back on your meds and you should be fine." Maureen said caressing Roger's hair.

"OK. I'm sorry guys. I should have talked to you about how I was feeling. It was wrong." he answered as Roger walked over to him.

"You ever try to pull a stunt like that again, I'll kill you myself." he told him angrily.

"I know. I'm really sorry Rog." he said reaching out to hug Roger.

"I love you man." he told him breaking down in his arms.

"Sure, now you tell me. You're with Maureen now." Collins said jokingly as everyone laughed.

"Wiseass." Roger said laughing with him.

"I love you too Roger." he said clutching onto his jacket.


	11. Chapter 11

"Baby, I think Collins should move into the loft." Maureen said sitting on the couch as Roger got ready for the band auditions.

"Where would he sleep?" he asked putting his rings on.

"In your old room." she said looking up at him.

"I love Collins and all, but Baby, I'm not sleeping with him." he said smiling down at her.

"No, I mean, why don't you move in with me and he can have your old room. You spend all of your time down here anyway." she said kneeling up on the couch.

"Are you serious?" he asked sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I mean Roger, we've been dating for 3 months and you sleep down here every night anyway. Why not?" she asked smiling at him.

"OK." he said smiling at him.

"Oh my God. We're moving in together." she said excitedly jumping into his arms.

"I love you Maureen." he said kissing her head.

"I love you too Roger." she said leaning back to kiss him.

"Now we have to get ready for auditions." he told her caressing her face.

"OK Baby." she said smiling at him as they got ready to leave.

"Roger, good. I'm glad I caught you. Listen, Collins is coming home from the hospital tomorrow and we were hoping to talk to you about something." Mark said coming down the stairs.

"Yeah, listen, we wanted to talk to you about something too. I'm gonna move in with Maureen, so why doesn't Collins move into my room. That way, he's here and we can take care of him. You know, make sure he takes his medicine and everything." Roger told him holding Maureen in his arms.

"Really? That's what we were gonna ask you. I mean, not that I wanted you to move out, but you spend all your time down here anyway. We just figured he could use your room until he's feeling better." Mark said looking up at Joanne.

"No, you're right. I spend all my time down here with Maureen anyway, so she asked me to move in and I said yes." Roger told him smiling down at Maureen.

"That's great sweetie." Joanne said hugging them.

"Yeah, it is kind of great, isn't it?" Maureen said smiling at them.

"OK now that that's settled, I'll come by later after the auditions to get the rest of my stuff." Roger said smiling at Mark and Joanne smiled back at them.

"OK. We'll see you guys later. We'll go out to the Life to celebrate." Mark said wrapping his arms around Joanne.

"That sounds good. We'll see you later." Maureen said before they left for the auditions.

"OK Tommy, that sounds great. I'll let you know. Next." Roger called out as he and Maureen sat at a table at Maureen's performance space listening to drummers. Suddenly a young woman stepped up. "Your name please?" he asked sitting back.

"Michelle." she said smiling at them as she sat on the stool.

"OK, let's see what you got, Michelle." he said as she started to pound on the drums. Both Roger and Maureen were impressed.

"How was that?" she asked looking up at him.

"That was great. We'll let you know." he said as she stepped off stage. After a few other drummers auditioned they left for home.

"I liked that girl. She rocked." Maureen said with Roger's arm slung over her shoulders.

"Yeah, she was great. But you wouldn't be worried about me having a chic in the band?" he asked looking down at her.

"Not at all. I know you're satisfied at home, so you have no reason to be looking at another chic." she said stopping him in the middle of the sidewalk to kiss him.

"You got that right, Baby." he said pulling her closer and kissing her deeper.

"Ugh Roger, you gotta stop doing that. You know how weak you make me." she told him smiling up at him.

"I know. Why do you think I do it? I get you right where I want you." he said caressing her neck.

"You are bad, Roger." she said laughing.

"I know. But that's why you love me." he laughed hugging her.

"I do love you. That's why you are gonna hire that Michelle girl to be your drummer." she said smiling as he pulled away.

"I guess we found a drummer." he said smiling down at her.

"You are so smart." she told him laughing.

"Yes I am. I'm with you, aren't I?" he said laughing with her.

"That you are my sexy, shaggy haired, rock star boyfriend." she said laughing as she stood on her tippy toes to kiss him.

"You're in a good mood." he said smiling at her.

"Well, you found your drummer and that means you are one step closer to being on stage. I can't wait to see you up there again. You were so amazing. I mean, the electric you used to put off. You had everyone in the room hanging on your every word. And I get to brag about how that's my man up there." she said laughing.

"And I get to brag that the sexy brunette in front row is going home with me." he told her caressing her hair.

"Yeah, home. I can't believe we're living together." she said smiling up at him.

"I know. It's amazing, huh?" he told her leaning down to kiss her neck.

"Yeah it is." she said holding him tight. "Come on, let's go home." she continued as they walked home.

"OK Baby. I gotta get the rest of my stuff from upstairs and set up my room for Collins." he said entering the building.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey Michelle, we're over here." Maureen called out waving her arms as Michelle entered the cafe.

"Hi guys. I'm so glad you invited me." Michelle said approaching the table.

"No problem, Michelle I would like you to meet our friends. That's Mark and Joanne, they're together as you can tell and that's Collins." Maureen said as Roger sat drinking his beer.

"It's really nice to meet you guys. I've never been here before. It's cool." she said taking off her jacket, sitting next to Maureen.

"It's nice to meet you too Michelle. So Roger and Maureen tell us you are a kick ass drummer?" Collins asked drinking his stoli.

"Well thanks. I'm just glad to finally be in a band. I've been here 3 years and have gotten nothing." she told them smiling at him.

"I don't see why not, you are really awesome." Roger told her smiling down at Maureen.

"Thanks Roger. I can't wait until we get to rehearse." she told him pouring herself some beer from the pitcher.

"Well for right now, it's just you and me. We have to find a bassist and a rhythm guitarist, then we can start rehearsals." Roger said caressing Maureens back.

"Cool. Am I gonna be the only girl or are you gonna mix it up a bit?" she asked looking over at him.

"He's gonna pick the best bassist and rhythm guitarist he hears. Male or female." Maureen said smiling up at him.

"What she said." he told her laughing.

"Cool. So have you two been dating long?" she asked drinking her beer.

"3 months. We just moved in together." Maureen said smiling at her.

"That's so cute. You guys look really good together." she said smiling at them.

"Aww, thanks Michelle. I knew I liked her for some reason." Maureen said laughing as they continued drinking.

"Why do I have to come to rehearsals with you?" Collins asked complaining as they walked to the performance space.

"Because, I love her, but Maureen is making me crazy. She wants me to hire all girls." Roger said laughing as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Oh, gotcha. So you figure I'm gay, so I'll let you hire all guys?" he asked with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Exactly. See, I knew you were the right person to ask." Roger said laughing more.

"You are pathetic. And I don't suppose you told that beautiful girl of yours the real reason why you wanted me to come and now her." Collins asked as Roger opened the doors.

"Do I look suicidal to you? I told her I needed to talk to you. Make sure you're taking your AZT. Make sure you're OK. You know, out of concern for you." Roger said moving the table to the middle of the floor.

"Yeah, smart move." Collins said setting up the chairs as guitarists started coming into the room.

"So how are you? Are you taking your AZT?" Roger asked sitting down.

"I'm fine and yes I'm taking my meds. Mark's up my ass 24/7, so I have no choice. You would think since he has a girl now, he'd get off our asses." he told him laughing.

"Fat chance of that. But good, I'm glad you're taking care of yourself. See. I didn't lie to my girlfriend. Now let's get started." Roger said laughing as he gave a friendly pat on his friends shoulder.

"You are one evil white boy. I like it." he told him laughing as the first guitarist took the stage.

"Your name please?" Roger asked looking up.

"Drew." the man answered strapping his guitar on.

"OK man, let's hear what you got." Roger called out looking up at him. As he played his piece, Roger listened intently. He was good. Real good. He was the best rhyhm guitarist he had heard in a long time, but he still had a room full of guitarists to listen to. He wanted to hear all of them, but there was something about Drew that felt right. After listening to all of the rhythm guitarists in the room, he decided that Drew was the best. Collins agreed and they were good to go. Now all he had to find a bassist. He couldn't wait to run home and tell Maureen that they were almost there. His band was almost together. "Baby, guess what?" he called out as he entered the apartment.

"What Baby?" Maureen asked laying on the couch.

"Baby, are you OK?" he asked sitting next to her on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I'd take a nap before you got home. I wanted to have plenty of energy for you." she said leaning up to kiss him.

"Are you sure?" he asked caressing her face.

"I'm sure Roger. Don't worry. I'm fine. Now what is your big news?" she asked sitting up.

"We found a rhythm guitarist. His name is Drew and he's meeting everyone at the Life Cafe." he told her excitedly.

"That's great Baby. Did you call Michelle?" she asked hugging him.

"I was hoping you could do that." he asked kissing her head.

"Why do you feel so weird calling her? She's your drummer." Maureen asked amused by him.

"I know, but it's another girl. It's weird calling another girl with my girlfriend right here." he said half laughing.

"Baby, you're gonna have to get over it. You'll be fine." she said patting his chest before sending him to the phone.

"You just like to see me sweat on the phone with another girl, don't you?" he asked dialing Michelle's phone number.

"Yep." she said laughing as she hugged one of the couch pillows.

"You are one mean woman." he said smiling down at her.

"Well that's what you get for telling me you wanted Collins to go to auditions with you to check on how he's doing. Don't think you got anything past me Roger. Remember I know you better than you think I do." she said smiling at him.

"Oh, you caught on to that, huh?" he asked as she laughed at him.

"Roger, I may love you, but you can't pull anything over on me. Even when you flash that winning smile of yours." she said laughing harder.

"I love you too Baby." he said smiling at her before Michelle answered the phone.

"Hello?" she said as she picked up the phone.

"Hey Michelle, It's Roger." he said as Maureen watched him smiling.

"Hi Roger, what's up." she asked sipping from her water bottle.

"I found a rhythm guitarist, we're all getting together at the Life Cafe to welcome him in the band. Are you in?" he asked tapping his fingers on the table.

"Yeah sure. What time?" she asked propping the phone on her shoulder.

"About 6." he said looking over at Maureen.

"OK. It's a date." she said giggling as he noticed Maureen laughing into her pillow.

"You two think you are so funny, don't you?" he asked as Michelle laughed louder.

"Sorry, we've been planning that for almost a week." she said as he started laughing.

"Funny." he said looking at Maureen who had puckered her lips at him.

"Sorry. Yeah, I'll see you guys at 6." she said as he shook his head.

"OK Bye." he told her hanging up the phone.

"Sorry Baby. We couldn't resist." she said as he went to the couch.

"Oh yeah, you guys are a laugh riot. Seriousfuckingly." he said leaning in to kiss her.

"Hey, that's my word." she squealed as he began to tickle her.

"I thought since you are my girlfriend, your words automatically become my words." he said as he leaned in to kiss her neck.

"OK." she said becoming weak at the touch of his lips.

"So, we have time before we're meeting everyone. Are you sure you'e OK?" he asked caressing her cheek.

"I am totally fine." she said as they deepened their kiss.

"I'm convinced." he said picking her up to carry her into the bedroom where they made love.


	13. Chapter 13

"Drew, glad you could make it." Collins said standing outside smoking a cigarette.

"Thanks. Collins, right?" he said smiling up at him.

"So where did you play before this?" he asked taking another drag.

"In a band called The Pink Panthers. We were all gay." he said smiling at Collins.

"Well that's cool. Don't worry about Roger. He's cool with it. One of his best friends is gay." Collins said throwing his cigarette into the street.

"Really?" he said surprised.

"Yeah, I'm gay." he told him smiling.

"That's cool. Should we get inside now?" Drew asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, we probably should." he said opening the door as Roger jumped up to greet them.

"Hey, there's the newest member of our band. Come on over Drew. I'd like you to meet everyone." he said smiling over at him.

"Hi, I'm Maureen. Roger's girlfriend." Maureen said holding out her hand.

"I'm Mark. I'm not in the band, but I'll probably be filming you guys a lot and this is my girlfriend Joanne." Mark said shaking his hand.

"And this is Michelle. She's our drummer." Roger said as Michelle stood up.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you Drew. Roger told me how great you are. I look forward to playing with you." she said smiling at him.

"I look forward to playing with you too." he said as Roger laughed like a school boy.

"Roger, grow up." Maureen said laughing as she slapped his arm.

"What? It was funny." he said picking up his beer.

"You'll have to excuse Roger. He's a 12 year old trapped in a 27 year olds body." Maureen said as Collins and Drew sat at the table.

"No problem. My last boyfriend was like that. I'm used to it." Drew said trying to read Roger's reaction.

"Sounds like he was cool." Roger said smiling at him.

"He was." Drew said looking down.

"Why'd you guys break up?" Michelle asked drinking her beer.

"He died. AIDS." Drew said looking up at Collins.

"We're so sorry to hear that Drew. Are you positive?" Maureen asked reaching out for his hand.

"Yeah, I am." he said looking down.

"We are so sorry to hear that Drew. Collins and I are too. And we just lost people that we were really close to to it." Roger said pulling Maureen closer to him.

"Sorry about that." Drew said feeling more comfortable.

"It's cool. No day but today, right." Collins said as Michelle raised her beer.

"To those who have been lost and those who have been found." she said as Maureen smiled at her.

"I'll drink to that." she said as Roger kissed Maureen's head.

"That's beautiful Michelle." Joanne said as everyone raised their beer and toasted.

"Yeah it was. Now let's party. Tomorrow we find a bassist." Roger said lightening the mood as he drank from his beer.

"Baby, are you OK?" Maureen asked laying in bed as Roger got undressed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" he asked getting in bed as she crept closer to him.

"I don't know, finding out Drew is positive. That's got to be tough." she said kissing his chest.

"Yeah it is, but I'm positive too. It would be hypocritical of me not to want him in the band just because he's positive." Roger said leaning down to kiss her head.

"I thought of a name for the band." she said looking up at him.

"Oh yeah, what is it Baby." he asked smiling at her.

"Proof Positive." she said as his smile got bigger.

"That is a great idea." he said sliding down on the bed to take her in his arms and kiss her deeper.

"I thought you would." she said smiling at him.

"I love you Maureen. I love you for everything you are. Your craziness. Your insanity. The beautiful person you are and the person you make me want to be when I'm with you." he said caressing her face.

"Roger, I love you so much. You're my best friend and your the most wonderful man on earth. You always were the person you are though. I'm just reaping the benefits." she said leaning in to kiss him deeper and passionately as they began to make love.

"Baby, you gotta get up. You have a bassist to find." Maureen sung as she played with his chest hair.

"I don't want to go. I want to stay with you in bed." he told her pulling her on top of him.

"But Baby, you have auditions in a half an hour." she said as he leaned up to kiss him.

"God, you are sexy." he told her caressing her naked body.

"And you are stalling." she said laughing as he looked deep into her beautiful green eyes.

"Yeah, so." he told her laughing.

"You are pathetic, Davis. Get up." she said laughing as she got up to let him get ready.

"And you're being mean." he told her slipping into his boxers.

"Not mean. I just want you to complete your band and get on stage." she said as he smiled down at her.

"I know. I want to get onstage too." he said putting his jeans on.

"So then go find your bassist, so I can see you on stage." she said smiling up at him.

"I'm going. I'm going." he said slipping a clean t-shirt over his head.

"Can I come too?" she asked watching him brush his hair.

"I'm not purposely picking another girl." he said flashing his gorgeous smile at her.

"But you don't want Michelle to be the only chic, do you?" she asked sitting up holding the sheet over her bare breasts.

"Maureen." he said sitting on the bed.

"I know. I just want you to pick the best one out there so you can have the best band in the city." she said leaning over to him.

"Get dressed. We gotta go." he told her smiling at her.

"Yay!" she yelled jumping out of bed. "I can't wait for your first rehearsal as a band. This is gonna be so cool." she said slipping into her clothes.

"Not so fast. I need to find a bassist first." he said laughing at her excitement.

"I know. I just can't wait." she told him smiling as she got dressed.

"I know Baby." he told her putting his boots on.

"Come on. We gotta go." she said as she ran the brush through her hair and they left the apartment. As they walked to the performance space they held each other close. There was a guy waiting outside waiting for them to get there.

"Hey Rog, how you doin'?" the man asked smiling at him.

"Nick? Wow, what are you doing here." Roger said hugging the man.

"I saw your posters around town. I'm glad to see you're getting another band together." he told him smiling.

"Yeah, it's a promise I made to my friends. You remember Maureen, right?" Roger asked with his arm around her.

"Yeah, you're dating now? Last I heard you were with that hot stripper from the Cat Scratch and Mauren was dating some female lawyer." Nick asked as Roger and Maureen looked at each other smiling.

"Things changed. Are you clean?" Roger asked looking over at him.

"Two and a half years. You?" Nick asked smiling at them.

"About the same. I quit when I found out I was positive." Roger said as Maureen caressed his chest.

"Sorry man." Nick said looking down.

"It's cool. I'm just living life now." Roger told him rubbing Maureen's arm.

"Good. I'm glad you're getting another band together. You were too good do quit performing, man." Nick said smiling at him.

"So, you're here to audition?" Roger asked looking at him.

"Yeah, I didn't want to join another band, but then I saw your poster and had to be a part of what you're doin'." he told him smiling.

"I would love to play with you again, man." Roger said as Maureen giggled and Nick laughed along. "And you say I'm bad?" Roger asked laughing at her.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." she said laughing.

"Anyway, why don't we go to the Life. I'll get Drew and Michelle to meet us there." Roger told him smiling at Nick and Maureen.

"OK sounds great to me." Nick said as they left the performance space.


	14. Chapter 14

"Nicky?" Michelle called out as he, Roger, and Maureen entered the cafe.

"Mickey, what are you doing here?" Nick asked hugging her hello.

"I'm in Roger's band. Don't tell me you're the new bassist." she told him laughing.

"You guys know each other?" Collins asked confused as he stood next to Drew.

"Yeah, we dated last year." Michelle said smiling up at Nick. He looked better then he did the year earlier.

"Yeah, I had to leave town to take care of my mother while she was sick and we just broke up. I can't believe we're in the same band." Nick said as Roger and Maureen smiled at them.

"Yeah, it's cool. Why don't we sit down and catch up?" Michelle said smiling at him.

"Yeah, let's do that. So Collins, what are you doing here?" Maureen asked smiling seeing right through him.

"I was hanging out with Drew when you called." he said smiling at Drew.

"Really? That's great." Maureen said looking up at Roger.

"Yeah it is." Collins said putting his arm around Drew.

"When are we gonna start rehearsing?" Nick asked smiling down at Michelle.

"I figure maybe tomorrow. I have a whole bunch of awesome songs I've been writing and I want to start performing soon." Roger said as he poured the beer.

"Cool. Guys you gotta hear his songs. If he says they're amazing, they are." Nick said as he put his arm around Michelle.

"I can't wait." Michelle said looking up at Nick smiling.

"OK, who says we get drunk tonight and then start busting our asses tomorrow?" Roger said smiling at Maureen.

"Oh great. We're in trouble." Collins said as Maureen and Roger covered their faces laughing.

"What does he mean?" Michelle asked looking at Maureen.

"Nothing, it's just Roger and I get into trouble when we're drunk. Especially together." Maureen said laughing.

"What do you mean trouble?" Michelle asked as Nick began to laugh too. "What?" she asked smiling up at him.

"Roger gets all Jersey when he's drunk." Nick said as Roger buried his face in Maureen's shoulder.

"What do you mean Jersey?" Michelle asked as Maureen burst out laughing.

"He gets a craving for Bon Jovi." she said as Michelle started laughing.

"What? Do you mean he listens to Bon Jovi or he sings it?" Michelle asked as Collins looked at each other.

"Both." they said in unison laughing as Nick started to get up.

"Very funny guys. Thanks." Roger said looking up at them.

"Where are you going?" Michelle asked looking up at him.

"Cigarette. Do you still smoke?" he asked smiling down at her.

"Yeah, I'll go with." she said as Maureen smiled at them.

"So you tried out for Roger? That's awesome. I'm glad you're playing again." Nick told her as they got outside.

"Yeah, it's been a long time coming." she said lighting her cigarette.

"I missed you Mickey?" he told her smiling down at her.

"I missed you too." she said as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Should we be doing this? We're in the same band." she asked looking into his blue eyes.

"I don't know. It just felt right." he told her caressing her cheek.

"Yeah it did." she said as Roger came out for a cigarette.

"Hey you two. Back together I see." he said smiling at them.

"I'm sorry Roger. If you don't want us fraternizing..." Michelle started as Roger took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Michelle, I didn't mean it like that. I think it's great you guys are together. Did you know Nicky and I used to play in a band together?" He told her taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Really? You were in Mute?" she asked smiling at him as Nick wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, I was young and stupid. We had some crazy ass time, didn't we Nicky?" he asked smiling at him.

"Yeah we did. But you gotta grow up sometime." Nick told him smiling down at Michelle.

"Yeah you do." Roger agreed as Maureen came out.

"Hi guys." she said smiling at Michelle.

"Hey Maureen. Nicky and I are back together." she told her excitedly.

"That's great. Mickey and Nicky. How cute." Maureen told her as Roger put his arm around her.

"Thanks." Michelle said laughing.

"So, how about we all go inside and get drunk." Roger said kissing Maureens head.

"Let's go." Nick said opening the door for them as they went inside. When they got back inside, Drew and Collins were in a lip lock.

"Dude." Roger called out as he and Nick started laughing.

"What? We're the only ones not aloud to get our groove on?" Collins asked as Maureen buried her face in Roger's chest and Michelle buried hers in Nicks.


	15. Chapter 15

"Are we ready?" Roger asked as the band took to the stage.

"Baby, you guys are more than ready. Just play your hearts out and you'll be fine. I love you." Maureen said smiling up at Roger from in front of the stage.

"Thanks Baby. I love you too." he said smiling down at her as he strapped his guitar on.

"Go Roger." she screamed as the crowd went wild.

"Hey everyone, my name is Roger Davis and we are Proof Positive. We got a great show in store for you so let's get started." he announced as Michelle set the beat. They played 3 flawless sets. The crowd cheered all the way through. By the last song, Roger was more relaxed than he had been in a long time. He decided to do a song for Maureen. "OK this next song is for my girl, Maureen, it reminds me of the first night I knew I loved her." he said as her hands went over her mouth. Roger looked back at Michelle who smiled at him. "2,3,4. Na na na na na na na na na na na. Na na na na na na na na na na na. Na na na na na na na na na na na. Rainy night and they worked all day. We both got jobs cause there's bills to pay. We got something they can't take away. Our love our lives." he started smiling at her as Maureen, Mark, Collins and Joanne laughed hysterically. When he finished the song they climbed off stage.

"Roger, we sung that song the night you and I went out to get away from Mark and Joanne." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah. That night I knew I loved you as more than just a friend." he told her taking her into his arms.

"That was great Roger. Wow." Collins said as he put his arm around Drews waist.

"Yeah, you guys were amazing. I heard stories about Roger on stage, but wow. Nothing could have prepared me that this." Joanne said with Marks arms wrapped her around her waist.

"Thanks Jo. Now I could use a drink." Roger said leaning down to kiss Maureen.

"I can't believe you sung Bon Jovi sober." Collins joked as Maureen buried her face in his chest.

"I did it for my girl." he said caressing her hair.

"OK, you two. You're worse than we are." Michelle said holding Nick.

"No one's worse than you guys." Joanne said laughing as Mark kissed the back of her neck.

"Oh, we are so not that bad." Michelle said as Nick covered his face.

"We caught you guys going at it in the back room. Before the show." Roger yelled laughing.

"Drinks anyone?" Nick called out as Michelle covered her face.

"Yeah, yeah. You horny dog." Collins said as everyone laughed.

"Can I help it if I can't get enough of my girl? We're making up for lost time." he said picking her up over his shoulder and carrying her to the bar.

"Nicky, put me down. Why do you have to carry me around? I do have legs, you know?" Michelle yelled at him laughing.

"Get used to it Michelle. It's a guitarist thing." Maureen said laughing as she looked up at Roger.

"Come on Baby, pick me up." Collins said teasing Drew.

"Yeah, sorry Baby. I don't think so." Drew told him as everyone laughed.

"OK, OK. To Proof Positive's first show. You guys are gonna rock the city." Joanne said holding up her beer as everyone reached for theirs.

"I'll drink to that." Maureen said smiling up at Roger.

"Baby, you were really awesome tonight." Maureen said laying in his arms.

"I was singing for you." he told her curling her hair around his finger.

"I know." she said leaning up to kiss him. "Do you think Angel and Mimi were there?" she asked as he caressed her cheek.

"I know they were. I could feel the energy." he told her as he kissed her head.

"Good. I'm glad." she said before they fell asleep.

"Roger, Maureen. Are you guys up?" Michelle yelled pounding on the door.

"Go away Mickey." Maureen yelled as Roger started to stir.

"Come on guys. Open up." Nick yelled pounding on the door again.

"Ugh, they are so fired." Roger said putting his clothes on.

"Don't fire them until you see what they want. Then maybe we can kill them." Maureen said putting her robe on.

"Good idea." Roger said opening the door. "What is so important that you are risking life and limb by waking us up?" he asked as Michelle waved the paper in the air.

"We made the paper." she yelled rushing past him.

"Are you kidding?" Maureen asked as they sat on the couch.

"No, listen to this. And at the La Boheme Lounge in Brooklyn Proof Positive played a show filled with some of the best rock in the boroughs. Front man Roger Davis rocked every song the band played, including a cover of Bon Jovi's Born to be my Baby he announced was for his girlfriend. Drummer Michelle Lee proved that some of the greatest rockers are the chics. Bassist Nick Scott and rhythm guitarist Drew Goodbred completed the quartet that is really gonna go places. I'd look for them at record store near you very soon." she read as Roger sat behind Maureen wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You gotta be kidding me." Maureen shouted turning around to jump into Rogers arms.

"Oh my God. I can't believe it." Roger said holding Maureen in his arms.

"We made the damn Daily News Roger." Michelle told him as Nick sat with his arms around her.

"I can't believe it. Do you think anyone read that?" Roger asked in shock.

"Roger, it's the Daily News. Everybody read that." Maureen said leaning in to kiss him.

"Do you know what this means, Rog?" Nick asked smiling at him.

"We on our way to the big time." Roger told him finally snapping out of his daze.

"Yeah Baby." Maureen said kissing him again as they all smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

"Maureen, what do you think?" Roger asked coming out of their room wearing leather pants and a black sleeveless denim shirt.

"Um, Roger. Baby, what are you wearing?" she asked looking up from her book.

"Leather pants. What, you don't like them?" he asked smoothing out the thighs.

"Baby, I love them. Really I do. And there is nothing I would like better than to get you out of those pants, but you're a jeans and tank top type guy. Why would you wanna wear leather pants?" she asked turning to him.

"I don't know. Maybe a record producer'll be in the audience tonight and I want to put on a great show." he told her as she stood up.

"Baby, if a record producer is in the audience, he's gonna sign you because you guys are awesome. Not because your ass looks great in leather pants. And I want to be on the record as saying, your ass looks amazing in those pants." she said reaching around to squeeze his ass.

"I know. But Baby, our energy comes from the way we dress too. The attitude we project and I wanna project a kick ass rock attitude that blows everyone away." he told her leaning down to kiss her.

"Baby, you are gonna kick ass. You don't need leather pants to do that." she said smiling up at him.

"Thanks Baby. I can always count on you, but I think I'll wear these anyway since we have to go anyway." he said reaching down to hold her close to him.

"OK. I'm not gonna complain." she said laughing as she buried her face in his chest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Baby." Roger said entering the apartment holding his guitar.

"Hi Honey. How did pracice go?" she asked as he entered the kitchen to kiss her hello.

"Good. A reporter came by the performance space." he told her sitting on the counter.

"Oh my God, Roger that's great. What did he say? Tell me everything." she said excitedly leaning on his legs.

"Well, SHE, wants to interview me for an article on up and coming bands. She said we're the hottest band in the city." he told her putting his arms on her shoulders.

"I told you. It's only a matter of time before a record producer reads that article and goes to see you guys and you have a record deal." she told him leaning up to kiss him.

"I know. But I never gave an interview before. What the hell do I say? I don't wanna sound like an idiot." he told her jumping down from the counter.

"Roger, you're not gonna sound like an idiot. You just answer the questions she asks you and you'll be fine. You are very intelligent Roger." she said looking up at him.

"I just don't wanna get nervous talking to her. I mean, people are gonna be reading it." he said reaching into the refrigerator for a beer.

"Roger, people hear your song all the time. It's no different." she said smiling at him.

"I know. I just hope I don't fuck up." he said taking a swig of his beer.

"I know Baby." she said wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I love you Mo." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"What a coincidence. I love you too." she said smiling up at him as she held him tight.

"I know Baby." he said smiling down at her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hi I'm Kaitlyn Wood. I'm here to interview Roger." a young woman announced as she entered the performance space.

"Oh hi, I'm Nick Scott. I'm the bassist. Roger told me you'd be stopping by. He's just running a little late. He should be here soon." Nick said holding his hand out to shake hers.

"No problem. I can wait." she said smiling up at him as he went back to the stage to rehearse a new song Roger had written. She looked around at the space. She made little notes in her notebook as she waited for Roger to arrive. When he did, he didn't even notice she was there. He came in wearing a leather jacket, worn out blue jeans and a tight black t-shirt. "Roger. Hi, Kaitlyn remember." she said looking up at him as he turned to her.

"Yes, hi Kaitlyn. Sorry I'm late. I had to stop at the music store to get more strings and picks." he said setting his guitar case on the stage.

"No problem, I just got here myself. So where do you want to do this?" she asked looking up at him.

"How about over there?" he answered pointing to the table in the corner of the room.

"Perfect." she said following him to the table taking a small tape recorder out of her bag. "So Roger, tell me about when you first became interested in performing?" she asked not wasting any time.

"Well, I was 12 and had just started listening to heavy metal. You know Black Sabbath and Judas Priest and that's when I got my first guitar. I was hooked after that. Then I got into high school and like bands like Metallica, Queenryche and Iron Maiden and that was it. I tried to emulate singer like Bruce Dickenson and Geoff Tate. I didn't have near their range, but it didn't stop me from trying." he told her laughing as he took a cigarette out of his jacket pocket.

"Where are you from?" she asked looking up at him.

"Long Island." he answered simply, not comfortable with disclosing a location.

"How old were you when you moved to the city?" she asked smiling up at him.

"I was 18, just out of high school." he told her smoking his cigarette.

"Tell me about the struggles you went through to get where you are now?" she asked looking up at him.

"I've been on up and I've been down. I choose not to look at the past. I just live for today." he told her hearing Nick hit a sour chord. "Will you excuse me for a minute?" he said getting up to go to the stage. As he gave Nick a little direction, she wrote down some notes describing his movements and expressions during the interview to add into the article. "Sorry about that." he told her sitting down again.

"That's OK. So tell me about what inspires you to write your songs." she asked looking up at him.

"Life experiences, my friend my girlfriend. Nothing specific." he told her dropping his cigarette and stepping on it.

"And now for the million dollar question. Where would you like to be a year from now?" she asked smiling up at him.

"I'd like to still be playing. Whether it's still in clubs or in larger venues. I just wanna be performing." he told her smiling back at her.

"OK, thank you Roger. This was very enlightening. I'm gonna get working on the article and it will be in tomorrow's Lifestyle section." she said putting her tape recorder and notebook in her bag.

"OK, thanks Kaitlyn. Are you gonna come to the show on friday night?" he asked smiling down at her.

"Of course I wouldn't miss it. I wouldn't be surprised if a record producer or two were in the audience too." she said as he walked her out.

"You know, that would be great, but as long as I'm doing what I love, I'm good with it." he told her opening the door for her.

"I understand. Well thanks again Roger. I look forward to seeing your show on friday." she said looking up at him.

"I'll see you there. Thanks." he said as she left the lot.

"Hey Rog, how'd the interview go?" Nick asked resting on his guitar.

"OK, I guess. I tried not sounding like a total idiot." he said laughing as he took his guitar out.

"Why would you sound like an idiot? Because she's hot?" he asked smiling down at him.

"What are you talking about? Nicky, you know I'm with Maureen." he told him strapping the guitar on.

"I know, but she is hot. And I think she likes you." Nick said looking at him.

"She just interviewed me for a newspaper article. That's it. Geez, you know how I feel about Mo." he told him looking down at the sheet music Nick was practicing.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying." he told him directing his attention to the music as well.


	17. Chapter 17

"Roger, that was a great show." Kaitlyn told him as she went backstage.

"Thanks." he said smiling down at her.

"I am so looking forward to writing the review for your performance." she said smiling up at him.

"Well thank you Kaitlyn. I appreciate that." he told her as Maureen came backstage.

"Baby, that was incredible." she said jumping into his arms.

"Thanks Baby." he said kissing her.

"Hi, I'm Maureen, you must be Kaitlyn." Maureen said extending her hand to her.

"Hi Maureen. You must be Roger's muse." she said smiling at her.

"I'm one of them, yeah. He draws inspiration from our friends as well." she said as Roger hold her in his arms.

"It's very nice to meet you Maureen. Your boyfriend is very talented. I've become a huge fan." she told her smiling at her.

"Well thanks Kaitlyn. That means a lot. I loved your article. It was reallly nice." she told her smiling up at Roger.

"I enjoyed writing it. Just like I'm going to enjoy writing the review for tonights performance." she said happiily.

"Why don't you join us for a drink? You can get to know Roger behind the rock star." Maureen said laughing.

"I would really like that. I'd like to meet the other inspirations in Roger's life." she said smiling at her.

"We'll meet you at the bar, Baby." Maureen said leaning up to kiss Roger.

"OK Baby. I'm just gonna pack up my guitar. I'll be out in a minute." he said smiling at her.

"OK." Maureen said taking Kaitlyn's hand and leading her to the bar were Collins, Drew, Mark, Joanne, Michelle and Nick were.

"Hi Kaitlyn. How did you like the show?" Nick asked with his arm around Michelle.

"It was amazing, as usual." she said as Maureen passed her a beer. "Oh no thank you. I'm on duty." she said waving off the beer.

"Nonesense. The shows over, you have to partake. It's tradition." Maureen told her smiling as she finally took the beer.

"You're right. Thanks." she said smiling back at Maureen as Roger came to the bar.

"There he is. The man whose work is never done." Nick said raising his glass to Roger.

"Sorry, I just had to put some things away." he said taking the beer Collins was holding out for him.

"That's OK Baby. We were just filling Kaitlyn in on the post show tradition." Maureen said as Roger put his arm around her.

"Oh the one about no one standing at the bar without something to drink in their hand." he said smiling down at Maureen.

"That would be the one." she said leaning up to kiss him.

"OK, the other tradition is that Collins has to make a toast. Don't ask why, it's just something he loves doing." Drew told her as everyone laughed.

"That's because I'm good at it." Collins said laughing as he raised his drink.

"OK, whatcha got for us tonight, oh wise one." Roger asked as everyone laughed.

"Hey, no one likes a wiseass rock star." he said pointing to Roger, who was nearly doubled over laughing.

"Just toast, you damn ham." he told him laughing as Maureen slapped his chest.

"You do realize that you're encouraging him." she said looking up at him laughing.

"Sorry Baby." he told her standing up trying to be serious.

"Sorry Kaitlyn. They do this all the time." Maureen said as Kaitlyn laughed with everyone else.

"That's OK. This is actually the most fun I've had in a long time." she said smiling at them.

"Stick with us Babygirl. We'll show you fun." Collins said smiling at her.

"Was that your toast or are you stalling?" Roger asked starting to laugh.

"You're gonna be put in the corner in a minute, boy." he replied laughing.

"I'll just play every Bon Jovi song in the juke box. You're bound to start singing one of them." Roger joked as Maureen covered her mouth laughing.

"Oh shit, he got you there." she said as Roger wrapped is free arm around her shoulders.

"Don't start Drew." he said laughing as he looked at Drew.

"Why am I getting yelled at now?" he asked laughing with Roger.

"You know why." Collins told him putting his arm around his shoulder.

"That was one time and there was tequila involved." he said as everyone laughed harder.

"It wouldn't have been so bad, except you ordered the damn tequila." Roger yelled laughing.

"Yeah well..." he started before Collins gave him a look.

"Yeah OK. May I continue please?" he asked looking at Roger.

"The floor's yours man." Roger said smiling at him innocently.

"OK. To Roger's upcoming record deal. Let's hope he earns enough money to buy a sense of humor." he said laughing as Roger shot him a look.

"Hey, I'm funny." he said defensively.

"Yeah, on a 6th grade level." Collins said drinking.

"Can we stop picking on me please?" Roger asked laughing as Maureen laughed into his chest. "What are you laughing at?" he asked playfully poking her in the side.

"Sorry Baby. You have to admit, he is cute." she said looking up at him laughing.

"Oh yeah, real cute." he said as Kaitlyn laughed at the whole thing. "Oh great, I can see the headline now. Rocker Roger Davis has crazy friends." he said looking over at her.

"What? I'm having fun." she said drinking her beer.

"Good, we're glad." Maureen said smiling at her.


	18. Chapter 18

"Baby, where are you going this early?" Roger asked as Maureen rushed around the bedroom getting dressed.

"Early? Roger, it's almost 11." she said smiling down at him.

"Well it's early to me." he told her rubbing his eyes.

"Out with Kaitlyn." she told him as she buttoned her pants.

"You're handing out a lot with Kaitlyn these days. You really like her, huh?" he asked propping himself up on his elbow.

"Yeah, we have fun." she said leaning over to kiss him.

"Good, I'm glad you're having fun." he said caressing her face.

"I am." she said sitting up to put her shoes on.

"Good. What time are you girls gonna be done?" he asked sitting up.

"Shopping. You wanna come? I'll buy you some sexy pants?" she asked raising her eyebrows at him.

"Thanks but no thanks. Shopping is not for me. Especially with you two. You keep trying to get me in spandex." she said laughing as he swept his hair back.

"You know you're ass would look really sexy in spandex pants." she said as he laughed.

"Yeah, right. Then you'll really expect me to sing you Bon Jovi songs." he said as she gave him a look.

"It's your fault, you know? You got me into it." she told him laughing.

"Yeah OK." he said leaning up to kiss her.

"I gotta go Baby. Kaitlyn is waiting for me at the Life Cafe. I'll see you later?" she asked smiling at him.

"How much later?" he asked caressing her cheek before running his hand down her neck.

"Not too late. I wanna get back here to my boyfriend. I want you right here when I get back." she said pulling him into a long, passionate kiss.

"What ever my girl wants, my girl gets." he told her caressing her face.

"In that case, I'll try to get back extra fast. I love you." she said before getting up.

"I love you too Maureen." he said smiling up at her as she left the apartment. He was happy that Maureen had a friend outside of the group other than Michelle. She and Joanne hadn't really been good friends since the break up a year earlier and she had to share Michelle with Roger because she was in the band with him. Sure she may have met Kaitlyn through Roger, but she and Maureen had become pretty good friends in the past 3 months. Mark thought he was nuts not to worry about all the time she was spending with Kaitlyn, but Roger trusted her. He loved her and she loved him. Nothing was gonna come between them. And he had no reason not to trust her. She never stayed out late and never banned Roger from hanging out with them. So he was secure in his love for her and hers for him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Baby, are you here?" Maureen called out carrying shopping bags as she entered the apartment.

"I'm in here gorgeous." he answered as he lay in bed waiting for her.

"You are the best boyfriend ever." she said dropping her bags before rushing into the bedroom.

"Oh yeah? You think I'm the best now, wait until you get over here." he told her with a sly smile. He was laying half covered with the blanket while his shirtless chest was exposed.

"Just the way I like you." she told him rushing to the bed to be with him.

"So how was your day out with Kaitlyn?" he asked as she kissed his bare chest.

"Can we not talk about Kaitlyn, please? I'm trying to take advantage of my boyfriend." she told him smiling up at him.

"Sounds like a plan to me." he said running his fingers through her hair as she continued to kiss his chest teasingly.

"I love you Roger." she said smiling up at him.

"I love you too Maureen." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"I know." she said smiling up at him as they began to make love.

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"Mo, are you here?" Kaitlyn called out walking into the apartment as Roger came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Oh my God. Roger, I'm so sorry." she said turning around.

"What are you doing here?" he asked rushing into the bathroom.

"I'm really sorry. I was supposed to meet Maureen here." she explained still facing the door.

"She's upstairs with Collins and Drew." he said getting dressed in the bedroom.

"OK. Sorry. I'll check upstairs." she told him rushing out of the apartment running upstairs.

"Hey Kate, what are you going up here?" Maureen asked sitting on the couch with Collins and Drew.

"I went to your place and you weren't there and Roger said to try up here. We're going out for shoes, right?" she asked nervously.

"Oh right. Sorry, I'm really scatterbrained today. I just need to stop by my place to say goodbye to Roger and then we can go." she said getting up as she left the loft and went down to hers and Roger's apartment. "Baby, I'm leaving with Kaitlyn, OK? I'll be back later." she called out going into the bedroom.

"OK Baby, I love you." he said sweeping her into his arms and kissing her long and hard.

"Mmmm, I take it you want me to come home early?" she asked caressing his cheek.

"You can say that." he told her smiling down at her.

"I'll do my best." she said kissing him again before leaving the apartment.


	19. Chapter 19

"Baby, tell Kaitlyn about the time you hid Mark's camera and he was freaking out for 2 hours." Maureen laughed as they all sat at the bar after the show.

"Oh my God, I thought his head was gonna pop right off." Roger said laughing as he gave Collins a high five.

"That was not funny, you two." Mark argued as Collins, Roger and Maureen looked at Kaitlyn nodding.

"Yes it was. I think it was one of the only times I actually saw any color in your face." Collins laughed holding Drew around his waist as Joanne almost fell off of Mark's lap.

"Why did you hide his camera?" Kaitlyn asked laughing with everyone else.

"We were bored." Roger told her still laughing.

"Yeah see. They torture me." Mark said as Joanne turned to face him.

"Oh Baby, it's only because we love you." she said kissing him.

"Yeah Marky. You know we love you." Collins said as Michelle and Nick came into the bar. "Hey guys. Where have you two been?" he asked smiling at them.

"Forget it, we don't want to know." Roger said as Maureen slapped his chest. "What? We don't." he told her laughing.

"We weren't doing that, smart ass. We were at a recording studio so we could make our demo." Nick told him holding Michelle around her waist.

"Really?" Roger asked smiling at them.

"Yeah, my buddy owns a studio and said he's give us a really good deal." Nick told him smiling as the bartender put a couple of more beers on the bar.

"That's great you guys." Kaitlyn said smiling at Roger.

"Oh my God Baby, a demo? That's great." Maureen said turning around to kiss him.

"I gotta write new songs." he said putting his beer down.

"Baby, your songs are fine. They're great actually." Maureen told him caressing his face.

"No, I need new songs." he said getting serious.

"Roger, calm down. Our songs are great. Don't worry about it." Michelle told him looking up at Nick.

"I know. I've just been working towards this for a long time." he said as Maureen ran her fingers through his hair.

"Baby, it'll be fine. I promise." she said leaning down to kiss him.

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"Roger, what are you doing here? Where's Maureen?" Kaitlyn asked walking into the bar a week later.

"She's with Collins and Drew. I just needed to get out and clear my head." he said drinking his beer.

"What do you need to clear your head about?" she asked sitting next to him.

"Song writing, demo, shit like that." he told her ordering her a beer.

"Thanks." she said picking up her beer.

"So what are you doing out drinking alone?" he asked looking at her.

"Newspaper shit. My editor's being a jerk." she said taking a long swig of her beer.

"What about?" he asked drinking his beer too.

"You so don't want to hear my problems." she told him setting her beer down.

"No, come on. I love other people's problems. They're not mine. Shoot." he said drinking his beer again.

"He wants to take me off of covering your shows. He feels I'm spending too much time at them and I've gotten too close to you guys." she said taking another long swig of her beer.

"Sorry Kaitlyn. But it's a good thing. You can move on to covering other bands and maybe get a promotion." Roger said setting his beer down on the bar.

"I like music and I like writing articles on Proof Positive. You guys are the best band in the five boroughs. Trust me, I've heard them all." she said drinking her beer again.

"Hey, slow down. Are you trying to get drunk." he said taking her beer and putting it on the bar.

"I'm serious Roger. I'm sick of having to listen to bands that don't compare to you guys." she told him picking up her beer again.

"Thanks, but you didn't go into newspaper writing to write about one band, you did it to write about a bunch of different ones and meet new people." he told her as she finished her beer and the bartender brought her another one.

"Yeah but I've seen a lot of other bands and I like you guys. Plus I like hanging out with you guys." she told him drinking her beer again.

"Well you'll figure it out." he told her finishing his and ordering 2 shots.

"What are you doing?" she asked smiling at him.

"You look like you need a shot." he said handing it to her.

"What the hell is this?" she asked smelling it.

"Stoli." he said holding it.

"Is this the shit Collins drinks?" she asked laughing as Roger nodded. "How does he have a stomach left?" she asked as Roger held it up.

"I have no idea, but I think we need to propose a toast." he told her laughing.

"Do you guys always propose a toast?" she asked laughing.

"Only with stoli." he said laughing. "OK, how about to the future? Whatever it holds?" he asked holding it up.

"Sounds good to me." she said before drinking the shot. "Wow, that's bad." she said laughing as she made a face.

"Yeah, but it's tradition." he said putting his glass down. As they sat in the bar drinking and talking they got to know each other. Roger never really talked to Kaitlyn because she was a newspaper columnist and he was always afraid he was gonna say something stupid in front of her and it would end up in the paper. "So we started dating and we've been together ever since." he told her smiling as he spoke about how him and Maureen got together.

"That's nice... and sad. I'm so sorry." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah well, when you live like we do, it happens." he said peeling at the lable of his beer bottle looking down at it.

"Roger, can I ask you something?" she asked getting pretty drunk.

"Shoot." he said drinking his beer again.

"Have you ever thought about just getting away from all of it? The music, this life, everything?" she asked looking up at him.

"All the damn time. But then I think about everything I lost and everything I've been through to get here and think it would be a waste to give it all up now. Especially since I'm so close to getting what I always wanted." he told her smiling over at her.

"I get it. I really do. Sometimes I just think of going back to my parents and conceding defeat, you know?" she said starting to cry.

"I know, but you have to think about what you want and take it from there." he told her reaching out to comfort her.

"I have no idea what I want." she said looking up at him.

"Well, that's what you have to figure out first. And then you can do something about it." he told her quietly as she reached up and kissed him.


	20. Chapter 20

"What the hell?" Roger said pulling away from her.

"What the hell, Roger?" Michelle yelled as she and Nick walked into the bar.

"I'm sorry Roger. I have to go." Kaitlyn said getting up.

"What are you doing Kaitlyn? Maureen's your friend and you kiss her boyfriend like that? That's not right." Michelle yelled as Roger looked down.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happend." she told her starting to cry.

"You kissed her boyfriend and you don't know what happened? You're kidding, right." she yelled starting to go after her when Roger got in front of her and Nick held her back.

"Michelle, calm down." Roger finally said with Kaitlyn behind him.

"Roger, what do you mean calm down. Do you realize you kissed Kaitlyn and not Maureen?" she asked getting in his face.

"Yes, I do. It just happened. It was a mistake." he said quietly looking down at her.

"You think?" Michelle yelled looking up at him.

"Baby, let him explain." Nick said trying to calm her down.

"Explain what? Explain how he cheated on his girlfriend with someone who's supposed to be her friend? Oh yeah, I wanna hear this." she said looking up at him with her hands on her hips.

"I should go." Kaitlyn said wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, only keep going. Because as soon as Maureen hears about this, you will no longer be welcome around here." Michelle said looking down at her.

"Wait a minute, you're gonna tell Maureen? It was one kiss that meant nothing." Roger asked looking down at Michelle.

"Of course I'm gonna tell Maureen. She's my friend. I owe it to her to tell her. And so do you." she said looking at Kaitlyn.

"Why would I wanna hurt her like that? We were drinking and it'll never happen again." Roger told her as Kaitlyn put her jacket on to leave.

"You have to tell her Roger. If you don't, I will." she said said pointing her finger in his face.

"Baby, you can't force him to tell her. It's his relationship." Nick told her as Kaitlyn pushed past Roger.

"I have to go. I'm sorry." she said rushing out of the bar.

"Michelle, calm down." Roger said chasing after her. "Kaitlyn, wait." he called out as they went outside.

"What?" she said not looking at him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." he started before she cut him off.

"No, it was my fault. I should't have kissed you. If you tell Maureen, wouldn't blame you." she said slowly turning around as tears fell down her face.

"I really should tell her. I love her." he said quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry." she said turning around to leave.

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"Hi Baby. Do you feel any better?" she asked looking up at him from the kitchen making tea.

"Yeah, kind of. Can I talk to you about something?" he said sitting on the couch.

"Baby, what is it?" she asked following him.

"I need to talk to you about something." he said as she sat next to him.

"Roger, you're really starting to worry me. What's going on?" she asked looking at him.

"I saw Kaitlyn at the bar tonight and she was talking about her job and not knowing what to do and she was crying and you know how I hate to see a woman cry so I gave her a hug to comfort her and she leaned up to kiss me. I pulled away, and then Nick and Michelle walked in and Michelle wanted to kill her." he explained as tears filled her eyes.

"You kissed Kaitlyn?" she asked quietly.

"No, she kissed me. I pulled away Baby. I love you." he told her reaching out to touch her when she jumped up.

"Are you only telling me because Michelle and Nick saw you?" she asked looking down at him.

"Maureen, you know me better than that. At least I hope you do." he said looking up at her.

"I thought I did, but then again I thought I knew Kaitlyn too." she said as tears fell from her eyes.

"Maureen, it just happened, we were drinking and it just happened. It didn't mean anything. I swear." he told her getting up as she moved away from him again.

"I need to get out of here." she said grabbing her jacket as she opened the door and ran out.

"Maureen, wait. Maureen, I love you. Please." he yelled trying to follow her down the stairs. "Dammit." he yelled as she continued to run away from him. He went back upstairs to get his jacket before rushing out after her. He tried at Collins and Drews apartment, but she wasn't there. He looked everywhere he could think of, but he was having no luck. How could he do that? He never should have drank with her when she was vulnerable and he shouldn't have tried to comfort her. It was all his fault. He loved Maureen and he hurt her. He decided to check at Kaitlyn's apartment.

"How could you? You're my friend and he's my boyfriend." Maureen yelled as Kaitlyn sat on the couch crying as she apologized.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"Kaitlyn, you were my friend." she yelled standing by the door.

"Maureen, I'm sorry. But I have feelings for him." Kaitlyn finally yelled back as she stood up.

"You what?" Maureen said opening the door where Roger stood dumbstruck. "Roger." she said quietly as tears came to her eyes.

"Maureen, let me..." he said looking at her.

"Save it." she said pushing past him to leave.


	21. Chapter 21

"Roger, what are you doing here?" Kaitlyn asked wiping her eyes.

"I was looking for Maureen. I heard what you said and..." he started before she cut him off.

"Roger, I'm sorry you had to hear like that. I wanted to..." she said before he started yelling at her.

"Kaitlyn, I love Maureen. I'm sorry, there's nothing between us and there can never anything between us. What happened never should have happened." he told her before turning to leave as he went after Maureen. He didn't know what he was gonna do. He had hurt the woman he loved over what? It was really stupid. He wouldn't have blamed her if she threw him out. How could he hurt her like that. She did nothing but make him happier then he ever thought he could be in the past year and he kisses not only another girl, but he kissed a friend of hers. As he looked everywhere for her he could think of. Bars, the Life Cafe, Drew and Collins place to no avail. As he opened the door to their apartment, he could hear her crying in the bedroom. "Maureen." he called out rushing to her.

"Roger, go away." she said without looking up at him.

"Maureen, I'm sorry." he said trying to take her in his arms.

"No. Roger, I can't." she said jumping up out of the bed to get away from him.

"Maureen, I only went there to look for you." he said looking up at her.

"How could you? I never expected this from you." she asked sliding down against the wall.

"Maureen, Baby I'm so sorry." he said getting up to go to her.

"Don't Baby me. Roger, just get out." she yelled as he approached her.

"Maureen, can't we talk about this?" he said quietly as he crouched down in front of her.

"What is there to talk about? Joanne slept with Mark, you kissed Kaitlyn. I mean, why bother. Just get out Roger. I need you to go." she yelled crying into her knees again.

"Maureen, I love you..." he started before she cut him off.

"Save it Roger. Go." she yelled before getting up to ger away from him.

"I'm sorry Maureen. I love you." he said before leaving the apartment quietly. As he left the apartment, he walked up to the loft. How could he screw up so badly? He knew that Joanne cheated on her, he should have stayed away from Kaitlyn. But how could he have known how she felt about him? When he opened the door no one was there, so he went into his old room and just laid on the bed and started crying. He loved Maureen so much, how could he have lost her?

"Roger, is that you?" Joanne asked hearing him cry.

"Go away." he said without looking up.

"Roger, what's the matter?" she asked standing in his doorway.

"I said go away, Jo." he yelled as she stepped back and closed the door.

"Baby, what is it?" Mark asked coming out of their room.

"Roger's in his room crying." she said quietly.

"But his room is downstairs." he said approaching the bedroom.

"I wouldn't do that. He just screamed at me to go away." she told him with tears in her eyes.

"Do you think something happened with Maureen?" he asked looking at her.

"I don't know. They don't talk to me anymore." Joanne said looking at him.

"I better talk to him." Mark said going towards the bedroom door.

"Good luck Baby." she said squeezing his hand before he knocked on the door.

"I said go away Jo." Roger yelled violently wiping his eyes.

"Rog, it's me. I'm coming in." Mark said opening the door.

"Mark, if I don't want Joanne in here, what makes you think I want you in here?" he asked sitting up on the bed.

"What happened Roger? Are you OK?" he asked moving closer to the bed.

"Maureen threw me out, OK? Kaitlyn kissed me at the bar last night and I came home and told her and she threw me out." he told him quietly.

"Kaitlyn kissed you?" Mark asked sitting down on the bed.

"Yeah. We were talking and she was unsure about what to do about her job and then she was crying I tried to comfort her and she leaned up to kiss me. But I didn't kiss her back. So I came right home to tell Maureen and she ran out. I went out looking for her and I went to Kaitlyn's place and she was there. She thought I was there for Kaitlyn and she left. I told her the real reason why I was there, but she didn't believe me so she threw me out." he explained starting to cry again.

"Roger, I'm so sorry. What are you gonna do?" Mark asked quietly as Roger attempted to regain his composure.

"What do you mean what am I gonna do. I'm gonna get her back. I have to. Mark I'm in love with her. I'm not giving up on us." he told him wiping his eyes.

"How?" Mark asked looking over at him.

"Any way I have to. I'll do anything for her Mark. I fucked up and I have to fix it." he said getting up to pace the bedroom.

"If you need anything. Let me know. I mean it Roger. I'll do anything I can to help you." Mark said looking up at him.

"No, I gotta do this on my own. But thanks for the offer. I appreciate it. Can I stay up here for a little while. I want to be close to her." he asked looking down at him.

"Of course you can. Roger this will always be your home." he told him getting up.

"Thanks. I owe Joanne an apology. I yelled at her pretty bad before. She didn't deserve it." he said taking a deep breath before leaving the bedroom to find Joanne sitting on the couch.

"Roger, is everything OK? Are you OK? Is it Maureen?" she asked getting up and walking to him.

"I'm fine Jo. At least I will be." he said hugging her. "I'm sorry for the way I yelled at you before. You didn't deserve it." he said hugging her tight.

"What happened Roger? I'm getting really worried." she asked pulling back to look at him.

"It's a long story, but Mo broke up with me, but I'm gonna get her back. I just need to stay here for a little while. I need to be close to her." he said looking down.

"Anything we can do to help?" she asked looking up at him.

"No. But thanks. This I gotta do myself. I love her Jo. I gotta get her back." he told her as she caressed his cheek.

"So get her back sweetie." she said smiling up at him.

"Thanks." he said going back into his room to devise his plan to get Maureen back.


	22. Chapter 22

"Maureen, you have to talk to him eventually." Michelle told her sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Michelle, he let Kaitlyn kiss him. How am I supposed to forgive him for that?" she cried laying on the bed.

"Maureen, I honestly think he was caught off guard by it. I mean, when we walked in he was pulling away from her. He loves you." she told her rubbing her back.

"It doesn't matter. I can't do it. Last year when Roger lost Mimi, I was helping him through it and Joanne, who was my girlfriend at the time slept with my ex boyfriend Mark. I can't do it again." she told her buying her face in the pillow more.

"But he didn't sleep with her. She kissed him and he pulled away. He wants you back." Michelle told her as Maureen turned over.

"How do I know if I can ever trust him again?" she asked looking up at her.

"You know you can trust him. He is so in love with you Maureen. He's upstairs right now trying to figure out a way to get you back because he couldn't bare to be away from you." she told her pushing Maureen's curly brown hair out of her face.

"Really?" she asked starting to sit up.

"Yeah he is." she told her smiling at her.

"I don't know if I can." she said starting to cry again.

"Maureen, you know how much Roger loves you, right?" Michelle asked putting her arm around her.

"Yeah." she said crying into her shoulder.

"You know he would never hurt you intentionally." she told her playing with her hair.

"So why did he go to Kaitlyn's place after we had a fight?" she asked looking up at her.

"Honey he told you. He went there to look for you. He does not have feelings for Kaitlyn. This is Roger we're talking about. He only sees you." she told her comforting her.

"I don't know Michelle." she said looking up at her.

"Just think about it, OK?" she said smiling at her.

"I will." she told her wiping her eyes again when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it sweetie. It's probably Nicky." she said hopping off of the bed to get the door.

"Is Maureen OK?" Joanne asked standing at the door.

"Yeah Joanne. I'm in here." Maureen said getting out of bed.

"Are you OK?" she asked looking up at her.

"I don't know." Maureen replied sitting on the couch.

"I understand. He's really sorry honey." she told her sitting next to her.

"I know, but he kissed another girl." she said bringing her knees up to her chest.

"It just happened. It was a huge mistake." Joanne told her as Michelle made tea in the kitchen.

"I know. I just don't know if I can trust him again." she said looking over at her.

"Maureen, this is Roger we're talking about. He stands in front of a screaming crowd every week and dedicates songs to his beautiful, sexy girlfriend Maureen as he sings every song to you. He is madly in love with you Maureen. How could you question that?" Joanne asked looking over at her.

"He kissed Kaitlyn." she told her quietly.

"Oh honey, it meant nothing. He told her he loves you and it was a mistake." Michelle said smiling over at her.

"I don't know. I just need to think." Maureen said picking up her jacket and leaving.

"Should we go after her?" Michelle asked looking over at Joanne.

"Last year I would have said yes, but not now. She is not gonna do anything stupid. She loves Roger too much." Joanne told her taking a deep breath.

"If she comes back, tell her I'll be right back." Michelle said taking her coat and leaving the apartment.

"And then there was one." Joanne said getting up to call the loft.

"Hello?" Mark answered as Nick sat in Roger's room with him.

"Baby, it's me. Maureen and Michelle both went for walks. Tell Roger it's now or never." she said before hanging up the phone.

"Rog, it's now or never Joanne said." Mark called out hanging up the phone.

"Do you really think this will work?" Nick asked looking up at him.

"It better. It's all I got." Roger told him as they went down to the loft.

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"Michelle, what are you doing here?" Kaitlyn asked opening the apartment door.

"You have to tell Maureen that Roger did not recipricate on the kiss and he only came over here yesterday to look for Maureen." she told her as Kaitlyn turned her back to walk back into the apartment.

"Why would I do that? I have feelings for Roger. If him and Maureen are broken up, I can have him." she said as Michelle went after her.

"You are some fucking piece of work. Maureen was your friend and you treat her like that." Michelle yelled hitting her.

"What the hell?" Kaitlyn yelled trying to get away as Michelle continued punching her.

"I'm gonna kill you, that's what the hell." Michelle yelled as Maureen ran into the apartment door which was still open.

"Michelle, what are you doing?" she yelled pulling her off of her.

"I'm gonna kill her." she yelled as Maureen got her off of Kaitlyn.

"Michelle, she's not worth it. I love you for wanting to kill her, but you'd go to jail and you wouldn't do well in jail. You don't like being told what to do." Maureen said as she and Michelle laughed.

"You're my best friend Maureen and this little bitch wants to steal your boyfriend away." she told her as Kaitlyn lay on the floor covering her face and head.

"I know and you're my best friend too. But we should get out of here. She's not worth any of it. Roger's too good for her." Maureen said as they turned to leave. "Oh, and he'll never be yours. Roger's heart belongs to me and mine belongs to him." she said before leaving with Michelle to go back to the apartment.


	23. Chapter 23

"I can't believe you were gonna kick the shit out of her for me." Maureen said as she and Michelle walked back to the building.

"You should have seen how smug she was. She was actually happy you broke up with Roger so she could have him." Michelle told her getting mad again.

"Michelle, I love Roger. If he asked me to marry him right now, I would. I know he loves me too." Maureen told her with her arms linked with Michelles.

"He does love you Maureen. You have no idea how much he loves you." she said as they entered the building.

"I know how much he loves me." Maureen said walking up the stairs to her apartment.

"Aren't you going up to see Roger?" Michelle asked as they stood outside the apartment.

"I wanna get cleaned up first." she said opening the door. When she did, she was surprised by what she saw. Roger was sitting on the couch holding his guitar and the room was lit with candles. Around the candles were flowers. All types. Maureen didn't have a favorite flower so Roger got a whole bunch of different ones.

"Maureen Elizabeth Johnson, I love you." Roger said smiling up at her. His eyes glistened with the candle light.

"I love you too Roger James Davis." she said sitting on the couch next to him as Michelle closed the door and went up to the loft.

"I wrote you a song." he told her, but before he could start it she leaned over to kiss him.

"I don't need a song to tell me how sorry you are and how much you love me. I already know." she whispered holding his face in her hands.

"I am sorry, you know." he said as she covered his tender lips with her fingers.

"Save it. I forgive you." she whispered removing her fingers and replacing them with her own lips.

"I wanted to ask you something." he whispered as he moved the guitar out of his lap.

"You don't have to ask me. What ever it is, yes. I'll do anything, go anywhere, be anything for you." she told him wrapping her arms around him to hold him close to her.

"Maureen, will you marry me?" he asked as she pulled back smiling at him.

"I haven't wanted anything else for the past year." she told him as he took a small box out of his jeans.

"I love you Maureen." he said placing the ring on her finger.

"I love you too Roger." she said kissing him.

"So do you want to hear my song now?" he asked smiling at her.

"I would love to." she told him as he picked the guitar up and started playing the song. It was beautiful. It was about how much he loved her and only her and she was the only girl for him.

"I love you Maureen." he said as he finished the song.

"I love it Roger." she said smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

"Good. I would hate to have the song I sung for my fiance the night we got engaged to suck." he said as they both laughed.

"Does anyone else know?" Maureen asked smiling at him.

"Not about the ring. Just that I wrote you a song and set the apartment up with candles and flowers to win you back." he said holding her in his arms.

"Come on, I wanna tell everyone." she said taking his hand and pulling him off of the couch.

"Yes dear." he said teasingly as he followed her up the stairs.

"I take it you two are back together." Nick said with Michelle in his arms as Roger and Maureen entered the loft hand in hand.

"Yes Captain Obvious." Roger said as Maureen buried her face in Roger's chest.

"Glad to see you guys back together." Michelle said smiling at Maureen.

"We're not just back together. Roger asked me to marry him." Maureen announced as everyone jumped up to congratulate them.

"That's wonderful you two." Joanne said hugging them as Mark filmed everything.

"It really is. Congratulations you guys." Michelle said as Collins and Drew came in.

"What'd we miss?" Collins asked as Roger turned around to face them.

"Gimme a kiss you big, sexy, black beast." he said as everyone laughed.

"Go away Roger, you're not gay dude." Collins told him running away from him.

"Oh come on. When I tell you my news you are gonna want to plant a wet one on me." he said cornering Collins in the kitchen as everyone laughed hysterically.

"Not a chance. That stubble cuts right into my sensative skin." Collins said as Maureen almost fell on the floor.

"Good one Baby." Drew said laughing.

"Mo and I are getting married." Roger told him as Collins jumped over the metal counter and tackled Roger to the ground.

"Congratulations boy. It's about time." he said as everyone laughed.

"Baby, help." Roger yelled out with Collins on top of him hugging him.

"You're on your own Baby. You started it." Maureen said standing next to Michelle as everyone laughed.


	24. Chapter 24

"Ok, we're gonna need dresses and the guys are gonna definitely need tuxes." Michelle said writing in her notebook.

"Oh yeah. I'm am not letting Roger get married wearing jeans and a t-shirt." Joanne said smiling at her as Maureen and Roger entered the loft.

"Maureen, when were you thinking of getting married?" Michelle asked looking up at her.

"I don't know. We just got engaged last night. Can we please be engaged for a while?" she asked with Roger's arm around her waist.

"Well we have to start planning this thing. I mean, we have to book a hall and a caterer and a DJ. There's a lot to do." Joanne said looking up at her.

"I'm not having a big wedding. Roger and I want something small and simple." she said as they sat on the couch.

"Oh come on. It's not every day that 2 of our friends get engaged." Michelle said looking over at them.

"I know, but we just don't want to make a huge deal of it. We just want a small ceremony with our friends and close family there. That's it." Maureen said as Roger sat silently.

"You both want it, or you want it?" Joanne asked looking over at Roger.

"We both want it. Don't we Baby?" she asked looking back at him.

"I don't know. I was hoping we could do the whole nine yards. 5 teir wedding cake, the dais, the works." he said caressing her back.

"Are you serious? You'd wear a tux?" she asked looking up at him surprised.

"Well yeah. I mean, I only plan on doing this once. Why not do it up right?" he asked smiling at her.

"I can't believe Roger Davis. My Roger Davis is gonna voluntarily wear a non denim or leather product." she laughed as he smiled at her.

"Well for my girl, I'll do anything." he said leaning up to kiss her.

"Oh man, now you have to do it Maureen. Roger in a tux I gotta see." Michelle said laughing.

"Are you sure Baby?" Maureen asked smiling at him.

"I'm positive Baby. I want our wedding to be the event of the century." he said smiling at her.

"OK then. If it's a big wedding you want, it's a big wedding you shall have my love." she said kissing him again.

"Oh goody. We get to plan a huge wedding." Michelle said excitedly.

"This is gonna be fun." Maureen said sarcastically as she and Roger smiled at one another.

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"Joanne, have you ever known me to wear anything that frilly?" Maureen asked looking through a bridal magazine.

"No, but it's your wedding Maureen." she said as Michelle flipped through another magazine.

"Well than you're not gonna see me in it now." Maureen said smiling at her.

"How about this one Mo. It's more you." Michelle suggested showing her her magazine.

"That is too me. I don't think so." she said rejecting that one too.

"Well you have to pick one fast. The wedding is only a month away." Michelle said as Joanne nodded in agreement.

"I know. It just has to feel right, you know?" she said taking the magazine and flipping through the pages.

"I know sweetie, but you know whatever you wear Roger's gonna love it." Joanne said smiling at her.

"I know, I just feel like nothing is good enough for me to wear for him, you know?" she said looking up at them.

"Don't worry Mo, we'll find one. I promise. If we have to scour every magazine and every bridal shop in the 5 boroughs." Michelle said smiling at her.

"I know." Maureen said smiling back at her.

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"What the hell color do they want us to get?" Collins asked looking over at Roger.

"Periwinkle, what ever the hell that is." Roger answered as Mark stood next to him.

"What the hell color is that?" Collins asked confused.

"You're the gay guy and I'm supposed to know." Roger asked laughing.

"I'm not that gay, dude." he said as they all laughed.

"I swear Michelle and Joanne are making this wedding a worse circus than I ever thought it could be." Roger said looking over at them.

"Yeah well, you're the one who had to get married." Mark said trying on the tuxedo jacket.

"I love her, what was I supposed to do? Wait for her to get away?" Roger asked looking in the mirror.

"Well you promised her the wedding of the century." Collins teased fixing his jacket.

"You know, when Mimi died I didn't even know how I was gonna live. Maureen brought me back to life, you know? I mean, she taught me how to breathe and take one step at a time. I can't imagine my life without her. Why wouldn't I want to make a big deal out of our wedding?" he asked looking over at them.

"We know Rog. And you guys deserve a huge wedding. Even if it means we have to deal with Joanne and Michelle being royal pain in the asses." Nick said laughing.

"Dude, one of them is your girl." Roger said as Collins and Mark laughed.

"What the hell are you laughing about film boy, the other one is yours?" Collins said looking over at him.

"Yeah, but hopefully by the time I ask her to marry me she'll have it out of her system planning yours and Maureen's wedding." Mark said as Collins laughed harder.

"That's good. Oh man, he got you there Rog." Collins said as Roger laughed so hard he couldn't speak.

"I gotta say, that's a good plan." Nick laughed as Roger looked at him.

"You're just pissed you didn't come up with it." Roger said patting Nick on the back.

"True, but I'm willing to ride on Marks plan." he said as the boys all laughed.


	25. Chapter 25

"Baby, are you nervous about the wedding?" Roger asked looking down at Maureen as they laid in bed.

"No. Why? Are you?" she asked looking up at him propping her chin on his chest.

"A little. I mean, I'm not nervous about marrying you, because I want to be married to you. I'm just nervous about what kind of husband I'm gonna be to you." he said looking down into her green eyes.

"Roger, you love me, right?" she asked sitting up in the bed.

"Of course I do Mo. I love you more than you'll ever know." he said reaching up to caress her face with his thumb.

"Well, that's all I need from you. As long as you love me, you'll make a wonderful husband." she said leaning down to kiss him.

"With you as my wife, how could I be anything but?" he asked as he pulled her on top of him and they made love.

"I love you Roger." she whispered looking up at him.

"I love you too Maureen." he said kissing her head before they fell asleep in each others arms.

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"Michelle, I'm not going in there for my bachelorette party." Maureen said as they stood outside the club.

"Why not? It'll be fun." she asked putting her arm around Maureens shoulder.

"Um, former lesbian, remember?" she said as Michelle looked over at Joanne.

"What she said." Joanne told her as she and Maureen laughed.

"OK, OK. But you guys have Roger and Mark. I don't think you're in any danger of converting back to the dark side. Are you?" she asked looking over at them.

"Of course not. I love my fiance and I can't wait until he is my husband, but don't you think it would be a little weird, me and Joanne going into a lesbian bar?" Maureen asked looking over at her.

"Good point. Sorry guys, I wasn't thinking." Michelle said looking over at them.

"That's OK. Why don't we go to a gay bar?" Maureen suggested as Joanne and Michelle laughed. "What? What did I miss? They're not bringing my Roger to a gay bar. Are they?" she asked looking at them.

"I'm afraid so sweetie." Michelle said as Maureen looked at them horrified.

"Oh man. He is not gonna be a happy camper tonight." Maureen starting to laugh with them.

"Either that or he'll be very drunk eager to prove his heterosexuality." Joanne said laughing as the women all broke out in hysterical laughter.

"Lucky you." Michelle said as Maureen began to blush.

"Michelle!!" Maureen yelled laughing.

"What? I can't wait for Nicky to come home tonight." she said laughing.

"You are so bad." Maureen told her as she put her arm around Michelle's shoulder.

"Yeah, well look at who I'm exposed to. Roger and Nicky. I was bound to pick up some of their bad habits." she said smiling at her.

"OK, we have to figure out where we're gonna go for your bachelorette party." Joanne said looking over at her.

"How about we just go to the Life Cafe? I'm not in a mood to sit around getting drunk." she said smiling at them.

"OK sweetie. Whatever you want." Michelle said smiling back.

"The Life Cafe has a lot of great memories. I just want to reminisce." she said smiling at Joanne.

"That's a great idea Maureen." she said smiling as they began walking to the Life Cafe. When they walked in the guys were sitting at one of the tables.

"What are you guys doing here?" Roger asked jumping up to greet Maureen.

"I didn't feel like sitting in a stinky lesbian bar. I felt like being here. What are you guys doing here?" she asked leaning up to kiss him.

"I felt like being here too." he said holding her in his arms.

"Can't escape the memories, huh?" she asked looking up at him.

"Sorry Baby." he whispered looking down at her.

"Don't be. Neither can I." she said holding him close. "Do you remember the night of my protest?" she asked looking up at him.

"That was the first night I kissed Mimi." he said quietly as he looked down at her.

"She was good for you you know. I thank her every day for helping you the way she did." Maureen said smiling up at him.

"You helped me too Mo. You stopped me from locking myself in the loft again." he said kissing her head.

"Roger, I couldn't let you undo all the good she did for you. I was only honoring my best friend. I just happened to have fallen in love with you in the process." she said leaning up to kiss him.

"I love you too Mo." he said picking her up into his arms.

"Come on you lovebirds. We have some celebrating to do." Collins called out as everyone smiled at them.

"You better believe we do. I'm marrying the most beautiful woman in the world." Roger said smiling at Maureen before kissing her again.


	26. Chapter 26

"Maureen, are you OK?" Michelle asked through the bedroom door.

"No, I'm not." she called out looking in the mirror. She was wearing her wedding dress and her veil.

"Maureen, open the door sweetie." Joanne called out from the other side of the door.

"I can't. I can't do it Joanne. What am I thinking? Marrying Roger. Who am I kidding? I can never be anyone's wife." she said looking in the mirror.

"Oh man. She doesn't sound good. Should we get someone?" Michelle asked looking over at Joanne.

"I'm gonna go get Roger. He can always talk her down." Joanne said leaving the apartment to go upstairs to the loft.

"Maureen sweetie, Joanne's getting Roger, OK? Hang in there." Michelle said through the door.

"No, you can't get Roger. I can't face him right now." Maureen yelled panicking.

"Sweetie, open the door OK? Please." Michelle asked leaning against the door as Roger rushed into the apartment.

"What happened?" he asked looking over at Michelle.

"I don't know, she went into her room to put her wedding dress on and now she won't open the door. She's talking crazy Roger. She's saying that she could never be anyone's wife. You have to talk to her." Michelle said looking up at him.

"Mo Baby, open the door please. It's me." he called out knocking on the door.

"Go away Roger. I can't see you right now." she yelled pacing around the room nervously.

"Baby, open the door or I'm gonna bust it down. I'm not gonna let you stop me from marrying the woman I love." he said leaning against the door.

"Roger, I'm sorry but I'm never gonna be the wife you need me to be." she said starting to cry.

"Baby, you're the only wife I want. I love you and I don't want to live my life without you." he said hoping she would hear him through the door. Maureen stared at the door. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to marry Roger and spend the rest of her life loving him and being loved by him, but at the same time she was scared to death of losing him and she knew she would eventually. The disease that coursed through his veins guaranteed that that day would come sooner rather than later. She went to the door and opened it.

"Roger, I'm scared." she told him beginning to cry.

"I know Baby, so am I. But I don't want to live the rest of my life without you." he whispered kissing her head as he held her in his arms.

"I'm afraid I'm not gonna be able to take care of you when you need me to." she cried looking up at him.

"Maureen, we can take care of each other. I would never let anything happen to you." he smiled caressing her wet face with his thumb.

"Roger, what if I can't do it though? Be a good wife to you?" she asked quietly looking up at him.

"Don't worry about that Baby. Just love me the way you do. That's all I ask." he smiled looking down at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked looking up at him.

"I'm positive Baby. All I need is your love." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"I'm sorry Roger. I don't know what got into me." she said looking up at him.

"It's OK Baby. I kind of expected you to freak out. You've been too calm." he laughed looking into her green eyes.

"I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Maureen. That's why I'm marrying you." he whispered smiling down at her.

"Ugh, sorry for the melt down. But now that that's out of my system, you better go up stairs and finish getting ready, so I can finish getting ready." Maureen smiled looking up at Roger.

"OK Baby. I love you. I'll see you at the church. I'll be the guy waiting for the most beautiful girl in the world." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK, are you OK now sweetie?" Joanne asked looking over at Maureen.

"I'm great now. You know Roger's the only one who can bring me back to earth." she smiled looking over at them as she wiped her face dry.

"Yeah we know sweetie. Now you better finish getting ready. You're getting married soon." Michelle smiled looking over at her.

"Yes I am." Maureen smiled looking up at them before rushing to the bathroom to clean her face and put her make up on.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready dear?" Mr. Johnson asked looking down at Maureen as they stood in the foyer of the church.

"Yeah daddy. I've never been more ready." she smiled looking up at him as the music started. Maureen and her father began walking down the aisle towards Roger who was waiting for her in a tuxedo and Collins and Mark standing next to him. Michelle and Joanne were waiting on the other side of the aisle for Maureen to join them. As the priest performed the ceremony everyone watched happily. Roger recited his vows to Maureen and slipped the ring on her finger and she did the same. They were finally married. As Roger and Maureen faced each other they smiled and kissed.

"Now we party." Collins called out as everyone cheered.

"We did it Baby." she smiled looking up at him.

"Yes we did Mrs. Davis." he smiled caressing her face with his thumb.

"I love you Roger." she whispered smiling up at him.

"I love you too Maureen." he said quietly taking her into his arms.

A/N: And that's the end of One Step at a Time. I hope the ending was everything everyone hoped it would be. I'm trying to finish up all of my stories and hope to have it done by the middle of May. I have a very busy summer ahead of me, so I'm just trying to wrap things up. Don't think this means I don't have other stories brewing in my demented little Renthead of mine, because I do. I look forward to posting them for you. Thank you for reading and I love hearing all of your reviews.

Renthead621


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